Changed Seasons
by XxAnimegirl300xX
Summary: Sometimes things change, but all you can do is let go and move on. Shadamy KnuxRouge Sonamyshad Tailsream some Silvaze. My first Fanfic. Teen for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

"Cream, wait up!" said an orange fox as he ran to keep up with the cream colored rabbit.

"You have to catch me first Tails" she laughed, speeding up further away from her fox friend.

"Fine I will" and with an extra burst of speed, he pounced, laughing as they both fell to the ground.

Cream loved the time when she and Tails could hang out. They both had grown so much it was amazing.

Cream was already 14 and she looked more like her mother every day. She had gotten taller and her body had started to mature with age.

Tails also had gotten taller, now he was almost 5'6 and much more muscular. His voice had deepened also from the shrill voice of a 7 year old. Because of the cool September air he was wearing his favorite t-shirt, jeans and a Jacket.

"So where are you going Cream?" he asked as he helped his friend up on her feet.

"I'm going to Amy's house to water her plants. I'd promised that I would take care of her house while she was gone. Can you believe it's been three years already? I can't wait to see her again." She said cheerfully; even though she had grown older that didn't mean she had lost any of her optimism.

"Yeah I miss her too." Amy was like an older sister to him even if she was a little pushy sometimes. It wasn't her fault; she was just determined to get Sonic's attention. Speaking of Sonic, he almost forgot he was meeting the others later.

"Oh no! I have to hurry back to Sonic's place! See you later Cream!"

"Okay Tails, see you later!"

He waved goodbye as he turned and ran, propelling his Tails until her hovered over the ground and into the direction of his best friend's house.

~~~~~

"Where's Tails, it's not like him to keep us waiting."

As Sonic and Knuckles were waiting for Tails to arrive, Knuckles was relaxing on the couch reading the newspaper, while Sonic was impatiently tapping his foot. He HATED waiting! He waited for not even a minute he started complaining again.

"Where is he?"  
"Relax Sonic we've only been here for about 5 minutes, he's probably with Cream or something." He said as an afterthought.

"To you it's 5 minutes but to me it's five years!"

"Then find some way to entertain yourself"

"Okay Fine! But you told me to!"

Knuckles gave him a curious look as Sonic plopped himself on the rug and puckered his lips, and made the most annoyingly obnoxious POP that he could muster.

Knuckles twitched slightly and Sonic grinned.

He made another POP! Knuckles twitched again and Sonic tried to stifle his snicker.

POP!

"GOD, WHERE IS HE!" Knuckles shouted.  
"Sorry I'm late guys." Tails said as he walked through the door to Sonic's house.

"It took you long enough little buddy, Knuckles over here was being impatient tsk tsk tsk." Knuckles only replied with a whole lot of grumbling.

~~~~~~~

Down town at the mall Rouge was doing her shopping followed by a very unhappy Shadow.

"Isn't this fun?" she asked

"No it is not. Carrying your stuff around for you is not my idea of fun in any way, shape or form."

He voice rumbled angrily behind the dress she plopped over his head.

"Aw don't complain, many guys would kill to carry my stuff all day"

"Then why don't you find one of them?" He said before sighing.

He hated how somehow Rouge would get him to do the stupidest things. All he wanted was to be left alone, but no, it didn't matter how many times he said no she still got him to whatever it was she wanted. And it wasn't any comfort that he still didn't know how she did it.

While Shadow was pondering, Rouge was looking into another coat rack. The cold weather had convinced her to go shopping for a new wardrobe. She still couldn't decide if she should go with orange of red.

"Hey Shadow which one is cuter the red or the orange"

"Does it even look like I would answer that question?" he said glaring hatefully at the jump suits she was holding.

"I would say yes but…"

"What?"

She had cut off as she spotted something in the distance. He looked to where Rouge was staring, only to feel a jolt of anger-bordering hatred come over him as he realized it was Sonic and his friends.

"Faker" he growled.

"I wonder what they're doing here." said Rouge curiously.

The only time she usually saw the trio was on missions for GUN when there was Eggman or a chaos emerald involved.

"Hey, lets go follow them, they might have something that GUN would find interesting."

"Sorry I'm off duty. And quite frankly I rather stay as far away from that Faker as possible."

"You still call him that? I thought you were allies or something."

"We are, but that doesn't mean were all best friends or anything."

"Whatever. Come on before they get away!"

Then before he could refuse Rouge grabbed his hand and dragged him along. It took a while for them to catch up with the famous hero.

"Hey guys, how's it going" She said.

The trio all turned in surprise to see Rouge and a pestered Shadow standing behind them.

"Oh, hiya Rouge. Shadow" Sonic said with a curt nod in Shadow's direction.

"Whatcha doing?" Rouge said in her innocent voice.

"We're seeing The City of Ember."

"Oh, I saw that movie. It was really good." She said thoughtfully.

"Well then we'll see you later."

They were just about to leave when an unwanted figure appeared.

"Ho ho ho ho ho" Laughed a voice from above them. It was Eggman!

"Well, well, well if this isn't a nice surprise I came looking for a certain annoyance, and instead I find several, Oh, ho ho ho ho ho."

"What do you want, Eggman?" said Sonic. It looked as if they weren't going to be able to catch that movie.

"Oh I'm just here to play with my newest toy! Eggzilla! Reveal yourself!"

The ground began to shake as something arose from the ground. It was a huge robot!

"Well you know what they say, the bigger they are the harder they fall!" said the ever confident Sonic as he got ready to attack.

"Hey Faker. You might want to get it away from here first." Shadow reminded him.

Around them people were screaming and running; pulling along their children and trying to push and shove their way through the crowds.

"Oh yeah I knew that. Hey Egghead, can't catch me" Sonic said making a funny face at Eggman.

"Why you dirty rat, I'll smash you to pieces!" said a very annoyed Eggman.

"Eggzilla, follow them!" He roared as he pointed to where the heroes were running trying to lead the robot out of the city.

Once he determined they were a safe distance away from the city Sonic skidded to a halt and taking a ready stance as the robot came closer. They were in the Valley, a huge gorge out side of the city surrounded by Shear Mountains and steep cliffs above.

"So blue boy, ready to fight?" said the maniacal evil guineas

"Whenever you are."

Then without a second's hesitation Sonic attacked with multiple spin dashes one after the other only to have each one blocked by the giant robot.

"What?" said a surprised Sonic

"That thing should be scrap metal by now!"

"Maybe if we all attacked at once we could over power his defenses, it can't block all five attacks at the same time can it?" Tails reasoned

"It's worth a shot, come on guys" Then Sonic got ready for a super spin dash and just as he hit the robot he said Now! And everyone attacked. But to their dismay the robot just when into a ball of protection and sent a shock of electricity getting everyone.

"Why can't we beat him? It's like he knows how to beat all of our attacks!" Tails said frustrated. "Oh ho ho ho, Oh but I do Tails." Catching everyone by surprise "from every single battle we have fought this year I have had my robots record everything that happened so I could find out all your attacks and not even that but how to beat them. Now my robot is unbeatable, and I have finally w…" CRASH!

Eggman looked up in surprise and gave a shout as he saw the destroyed and crushed arm of his robot, and from the lump of metal petruded an almost familiar metal hammer.

"You were saying Egghead?" said a familiar voice from behind.

The group all turned and Tails gave a shout of joy at the familiar face that stood almost ten feet away from them. A familiar pink hedgehog; Amy Rose!

"Hey guys long time no see" She smiled cheerfully.

"Oh no, my robot, How dare you! Fine! Egg army Attack!" Eggman shouted rabidly as he pressed a large red button.

Suddenly an entire army of robots appeared out of no where!

With a quick movement of her hand her hammer was by her side again, and she turned on the spot using the momentum of the spin at send one hammer after another, each volley knocking down more than 5 robots at a time.

"YOU"LL PAY FOR THAT!" screamed Eggman. Another button and several more robots made a lunge towards her.

"If you insist" shrugged Amy

"Piko, Barrage!"

Hammers, hundreds of them, formed in the air around her in a puff of smoke, and with each deathly blow more destruction to Eggman's army went with ti!

"What! No! I will not be beaten by some little kid! Unacceptable!' the evil genius cried.

"Little kid" said an insulted Amy,

"Well if I were a little kid, you're only making fun of yourself 'cause you got beaten by one so there!" She said putting her nose in the air just like she did as a child.

"What ever! I will make you pay for this! You mark my words! I will be…!" but before he could finish what he was saying Amy hit him with another hammer, sending him flying through the sky at super speed.

"He annoys me" Amy said as her hammer came back to her side.

Tails was the first of the group to recover.

"Amy your back" he ran up to his friend and gave her a tight hug. Amy giggled.

"Hello Tails. I missed you. Hee hee .You got taller! That's just like life isn't it; you leave for a couple of years and everyone changes on you." She said, returning the hug then shaking her head in mock sorrow. "How did you know we were here?"

"I had just gotten home when I saw Cream and she said that she just saw you guys fighting Eggman's robot on the news. Are you guys alright?" she asked the group.

"Yeah we're fine Amy. But wow, you look different." said Sonic. She giggled

"Thanks for noticing. But seriously though I was worried for second there that last attack looked like it hurt" she said concerned. She didn't know what she would do if one of her friends got hurt.

"Nah don't worry about it, we're fine thanks to you." said Knuckles giving her an uncharacteristic thumb up.

"Yeah you were awesome Amy; you have got to show me how you did that" Amy smiled cheerfully.

It was so good to be home again. The only one who wasn't crowding around her was Shadow. Getting excited wasn't in his character, but at the same time he found himself unable to stop staring at the young lady. It was as if some magnetic force was trying to pull his gaze towards the female hedgehog. But he wasn't the only one unable to take his eyes off Amy.

Sonic couldn't help but notice how so many things had changed about her. She was taller and her voice had a base to it so she no longer sounded like some little kid. Also he couldn't help but notice, underneath the jacket she was wearing, her figure had become a lot more womanly.

Even her young face had matured; but even with all of these changes she was still Amy; the cute little girl with a sparkling personality. And everyone was glad she was finally home.

Later on after a bit of walking and chatting, Sonic invited Amy to join him and the others to the movies. Cream had caught up with them after a little while, so the whole gang was here.

During the movie Sonic made it a point to sit next to the pretty female hedgehog. He didn't even pay much attention to the movie; he was too busy staring at her.

Then later while everyone was talking about how absolutely awesome the movie was, he really wasn't in the conversation. After a while Tails noticed how dark it was and asked for the time.

"Its 8:37." Knuckles replied.

"Well, I had better start heading home. Thanks for a great time guys! And it was nice seeing you again Amy!" Cream said, then right before she was going to turn around. Tails offered to walk home with her. "Really? Thanks Tails!" she said smiling her warm smile. They both waved goodbye and headed towards creams house chatting on the way.

Amy smiled. She was glad Cream had found someone to keep her company. Knuckles and Rouge seemed to be getting along well also; they were the main ones talking.

Sonic and Shadow were just walking along thinking silently to themselves. She was so glad she got to hang out with her friends she was already feeling use to being back home.

"So Amy what exactly where you doing in Mercia anyway?" asked Rouge, she really wanted to hear about Amy's trip.

"I was mostly visiting my family and I saw a couple of old friends! It was cool until Rob'o' decided I needed to start training more. Not fun." She said face sinking jokingly.

"What do you mean no fun" asked Rouge. She had assumed that Amy was taking an easy vacation. "Well, I had to wake up every morning at 6 in the morning to do physical training for like two hours, then after breakfast more physical training, then actually combat training, then attack training all the way until 11:00 at night. It might not have been that bad though; I had Saturdays off to do whatever. And I got to see my family again."

"Ha-ha, you had to wake up at 6 in the morning. I feel real sorry for you." Rouge said jokingly.

"At first it was bad, but I guess I'm used to it now. I can't stay asleep for the life of me!" She said playfully downcast.

"Well then, since you cant go to sleep until 11, how about you join us on Friday, we're going to do Karaoke. Think you might want to join us?" Sonic said suddenly pulled out of his thoughts.

"Sure, sounds like fun"

"Great!" The group walked in a comfortable silence before Amy said;

"Well, I'd better start heading home, thanks for inviting me to hang out with you guys"

They said their goodbyes, and Amy left waving until she got halfway through the crosswalk, and jogging home.

It was good to be back.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Amy woke up a bit early. Every Saturday she would spend as much of the morning on training and physical fitness. She didn't spend five years getting in shape just to lose it. First she got out of bed and showered then she changed into her work out clothes; green sweat pants, a black t-shirt, and a green jacket.

She left the house and jogged down the sidewalk passing neighborhoods, until the landscape became more rural. When she had traveled home she had found a clearing surrounded by trees that was nice and quite so she could both focus better, and she couldn't be surprised with an attack. She had just entered the clearing. She put her backpack down at the base of a tree and got to work. First she started with stretching so she wouldn't hurt herself then actually started her exercise. First she did push–ups. Her goal was to do at least 100 push-ups where she did four push-ups and that was 1. After push-ups she did 100 sit-up, and lastly crunches. After she had worked on the physical fitness, she moved on to combat. First she decided to practice on her kicks. She did upper, down, side, center, up circular, down circular, and all the other type of kick attacks she had learned from Rob. After she finished practicing her kicks she went on to punches. There was upper hand down hand, side hand, and back hand. When she was finally done with combat training, she went on to her weapons training. During her training her old Piko-piko hammer had broken, so she had been all over the place looking for a weapon she could use. She was down to her last three favorite choices which were the Crescent blades, the double sided battle axe, and a scythe. Her current favorite was the crescent blades. She practiced on a nearby tree. There were eight basic attacks for this type of weapon. Upper cut, down hand cut, side cuts, back hand, overhand, underhand, and stabbing. She practiced for an hour. After a while she started to get tired. So she sat down and took a break looking around the clearing. Even though it was October, in this clearing it both looked and felt like it was summer. She was wondering about it when she heard someone behind her.

"Hello Rose."

She stood in surprised, but when she saw who it was relaxed a little.

"Hi Shadow what are you doing here?"

Shadow looked at her taking in her tired form.

"I was on my way somewhere when I though I heard something." He explained. "Actually I'm impressed; you nearly murdered that poor tree over there." He said smirking as he pointed to the deep gashes in the tree.

"Heh," Amy chuckled embarrassedly as her sweat dropped.

"So, you gave up your hammer for a couple of swords, now I'll have to really make sure not to upset you." Shadow said jokingly. Amy was surprised, first at the fact he was actually the one making a conversation, and the so usually somber Shadow was actually joking with her. It was a nice change.

"Yeah and don't you forget it!" She said joking. Then she sighed. "I wonder why I so tired though." She said mostly to herself.

"Because your putting so much force when you attacking, you don't need to use so much energy when using a sword, it's weight already takes care of that." Shadow said.

"You seem to know a lot about swords."

"Well yes. I learned how to use them when I was growing up." He explained.

"Oh, cool." Amy said "Then do you think you could help?" She asked.

"Well since you asked so nicely, sure, why not." He shrugged. "First let me see your swords." He said holding out a hand for them.

First he held on one end and practice swinging it. "It has good balance, and cuts through the air nicely, that's good. Now practice hitting the tree like you did earlier." He instructed her. She tried it.

"Hmm, I think it's the way you're holding it. You keep on putting pressure on the part between the handle and the blade, if you continue doing that it'll break the blade off. Maybe if you tried directing your energy so it's the actual blade that's doing the damage."

After at least an hour Amy was starting to get the hang of her new weapon.

"Well done, you seem to have this under control." He remarked after Amy had done a perfect attack. "Now that you've got that down, do you need any more help?" he asked. He had to admit he was enjoying helping Amy. Especially after she saved him at the beginning of the week, now he felt he didn't owe her anymore. Also he was interested in how she had gotten so much more powerful; if he could figure out just how powerful she really was maybe he could find a way to become more powerful than that, and find a way to beat Sonic when the time came. He was getting tired of being matched by that blue nuisance.

Amy shook her head "No I'm okay. Thanks for your help though."

He shrugged and turned away while Amy packed her stuff then she caught up with him.

"So, whatcha doing now?" she asked curiously.

Shadow looked at her then shrugged impassively. He really didn't know actually he had forgotten why he had come this way in the first place. Now he would go home then as soon as would get in the door he would remember. He sighed. He cursed himself mentally.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked. He seemed troubled by something.

"Nothing" he said clearly stating that the conversation should drop. Amy looked at his suspiciously, and then decided to let it go. As much as she wanted him to open up to her, she knew she shouldn't rush him; there was a difference between being friendly and being nosy. Suddenly her phone rang; she could tell it was Sonic because the ring tone was Remember by Flow.

"Hello, yeah, oh really, fine I'll be there in a minute." She hung up the phone "I'll see you later Shadow." Amy said picking up the pace. It seemed that Cheese was sick and Cream looking for help couldn't find Amy so she got Sonic to look for her. She ran as fast as she could, if Cream needed help taking care of Cheese it must be bad. She skidded to a halt right in front of Cream's house and ran up the drive to the door. It was Cream that answered.

"Oh thank goodness you're here Amy, Cheese is sick, and I don't know what to do!" She looked like she could cry any minute.

"Don't worry Cream, I'll do anything I can to help him." She promised


	3. Chapter 3

The weeks went by so fast Amy couldn't even tell what day it was anymore. All day for five days a week she would work at the hospitable for long hours, sometimes even having to sleep over for short periods then go straight back to work. She couldn't really complain though. She liked helping people. She loved the smiles on the faces of new mothers' right after a successful operation. She also loved how the other staff members seemed to be warming up to her. At first it they just accepted her indifferently, but now she was making great friends with her colleges. The staff started to find Amy a very nice person to be around with. She was always so optimistic even in such a depressing environment, and followed directions well. She was ready to learn and ready to help, two good characteristics you would want to have when entering a new job. The guys were the majority of her friends. They all had some interest in the pretty new girl on the job, even if she was completely clueless. And of course because of this new interest around the new girl from the guys caused quite a few enemies for the first few weeks, but eventually when they saw how being so popular didn't go straight to her head, some of the girls actually started to admire her. She was pretty, smart and easy to be come friends with, but there were naturally a couple of people who still hated her. And Amy being so busy was none the wiser.

One day Amy was sitting in her office going through paperwork. When her phone went off, she looked at the number and was surprised; it was one of her friends from Mercia.

"Hello?" She said.

"HEY AMY WE MISS YOU" said the voice on the other end.

"I miss you guys too Miki." Amy said smiling at the warm entrance from her friend. Amy remembered when Miki was first assigned as her apprentice she was at most four years younger than Amy. She was always cherry and optimistic, but she was sort of an air head sometimes. She had long orange hair, and pink eyes, and always had that same smile no matter what the circumstances were. "So how is everybody?" She asked.

"Haruka is bossy as usual, Anju is studios, and Mizuki is, well, Mizuki."

Haruka was a green and black raccoon, she was the more serious and cruel one of the group at the age of sixteen. Anju was a brown cat with green eyes she was 15 now. She was the genius of the group. Her intelligence matched that of Tails or Doctor Eggman. Mizuki was a platinum haired cheetah with orange eyes. Due to her sad and painful back ground she had mastered the art of having absolutely no emotion. She had a face of so little emotion it rivaled even Shadow's, there fore it was hard to tell what she was feeling.

"When are we going to be able to see you again?" Miki whined.

"It dependents, I'm almost always busy here, and with Eggman on the loose, I don't know when I'll be able to hang out."

"Aww, Its no fun with out you, we need our leader back." Miki pouted

Amy couldn't help but smile. "Who knows maybe we could set up a week to hang out. Mercia isn't that far away. Maybe we could visit each other. She and her apprentices had grown the type of bond that would never break, even if she was their mentor and teacher. When ever Mercia was in trouble Amy and the group was always there to help. They had become the heroes of Mercia, but now Miki, Anju, and Haruka were ready to be on there own, and Amy had returned to her home town to continue her life, and see her friends again. "Don't worry about it Miki, I'm sure well see each other soon, but of coarse if there's anything you guys need help with feel free to call. Okay?"

"Okay. Bye" Miki said sadly before hanging up.

For a few weeks time seemed to slow down. Amy's job became more normal, and she was able to hang out with her friends every once in a while, but she could still feel a rift between her friends. Before she had gone to Mercia, Cream would call her all the time, and she and the others would hang out all the time, but now they only seemed to talk on weekends and every once in a while.

One Saturday Amy was cleaning out her garage. She found all sorts of junk in there, like bicycle parts, old nick knacks, just old stuff. Then she came across a box in the corner and opened it. Inside were some old pictures of time with her friends. She had forgotten about it during her six year absence. She found her old piko-piko hammer from when she was a little kid. For a second she though about her childhood, and also felt several thoughts she had until now ignored, then, as if on cue she heard someone from behind. She turned suddenly to see it was Sonic.

"Hello Amy. Wow, this is a lot of stuff." He said looking around.

"Hi Sonic" She said smiling then looked around herself "Yeah it is a lot."

"Whatcha got there?" He asked referring to the box she was carrying.

"Just some old stuff, I had almost forgotten it was here" She replied sadness creeping into her usually cheerful eyes.

"What's wrong" Sonic said startled at her sudden sadness. 'What I say?' he thought.

"Its nothing" She said trying to dismiss it. Sonic wouldn't give up though; anything that could make Amy of all people sad must be a very big deal.

"Yes there is, come on Amy you can tell me, we've been friends years."

Amy sighed "I guess I'm just sad that, everything seemed to change so much while I was gone, I don't know if I'll ever be able to catch up with you guys."

Sonic understood. She was afraid her that her absence had caused a rift in her friendship with everybody. She had really missed her friends when she was gone, and probably thought that they had forgotten all about her, and moved on with their lives.

"Don't worry Amy, we'll always be friends no matter what" Sonic said with his signature thumbs up and big grin. He offered his hand for and hand shake, but instead received a hug.

"Thanks Sonic that means a lot"

Sonic felt his cheeks warming up, but whole heartedly returned the hug.

"Anything for a friend" he replied trying to hide his embarrassment.

Afterwards Sonic invited Amy to go bowling with him Tails and Knuckles knowing the others wouldn't mind. Sonic lost dead last of course, but Amy wondered if he did it on purpose. The next few weeks the group started to hang out more, going all over the place. They went to movies, amusement parks, and hiking trips. The only person who didn't come along was Shadow. Even after all those years he never tried to become close with anyone. The only time he would show up was if somehow Rouge blackmailed him into doing it. She was the closest thing to a friend he had, the others were more of acquaintances. It seemed that as the other got closer, Shadow became more solitary. Especially since Rouge, the group's main link to Shadow was busy hanging out with Knuckles. The only time anybody saw the dude was just passing by, and almost everyone never attempted to change that, probably influenced by the obvious tension between him and Sonic. Most still felt loyalty to Sonic; he was friendlier with everybody than Shadow who made it a point to stay alone.

One afternoon, when the sun had started to set, and the sky had turned a very dark orange color, as the sun fought to stay shining, Amy was walking down the street. Her day had gone considerably well, but there was still a problem at work. One of the other nurses was really starting to piss her off. When ever she walked passed she would start whispering to her friends, and she would gossip on the daily basis. Amy tried to ignore it; it was really childish, but eventually the others started to treat her differently as well, as if she thought she was better than them. She sighed in dismay. She knew it would be foolish to start a fight; she wasn't about to lose her job over some jealous little girl, but if she didn't do something about it, then the rumors would continue, and work would be come even harder when her colleges started to believe them.

She sighed again and looked around. That's funny she thought. She could have sworn she was going the right way. She now found her self on a more abandoned street. She shrugged. She would retrace her steps until she found a street she recognized. That's when she heard a noise behind her. She quickly looked over her shoulder to see a green bagger coming her way. He was tall and muscular wearing badge jeans no shirt and a red bandana on his left muscle, and he was starring right at her. She gave him a look and turned to start walking the opposite way she had come, after a while though she noticed that he was still a few feet behind her. She decided she would try and give him the slip, walking a little bit faster. She heard his footsteps moving faster as well. 'Fine' she thought '


	4. Chapter 4

The weeks went by so fast Amy couldn't even tell what day it was anymore. All day for five days a week she would work at the hospitable for long hours, sometimes even having to sleep over for short periods then go straight back to work. She couldn't really complain though. She liked helping people. She loved the smiles on the faces of new mothers' right after a successful operation. She also loved how the other staff members seemed to be warming up to her. At first it they just accepted her indifferently, but now she was making great friends with her colleges. The staff started to find Amy a very nice person to be around with. She was always so optimistic even in such a depressing environment, and followed directions well. She was ready to learn and ready to help, two good characteristics you would want to have when entering a new job. The guys were the majority of her friends. They all had some interest in the pretty new girl on the job, even if she was completely clueless. And of course because of this new interest around the new girl from the guys caused quite a few enemies for the first few weeks, but eventually when they saw how being so popular didn't go straight to her head, some of the girls actually started to admire her. She was pretty, smart and easy to be come friends with, but there were naturally a couple of people who still hated her. And Amy being so busy was none the wiser.  
One day Amy was sitting in her office going through paperwork. When her phone went off, she looked at the number and was surprised; it was one of her friends from Mercia.  
"Hello?" She said.  
"HEY AMY WE MISS YOU" said the voice on the other end.  
"I miss you guys too Miki." Amy said smiling at the warm entrance from her friend. Amy remembered when Miki was first assigned as her apprentice she was at most four years younger than Amy. She was always cherry and optimistic, but she was sort of an air head sometimes. She had long orange hair, and pink eyes, and always had that same smile no matter what the circumstances were. "So how is everybody?" She asked.  
"Haruka is bossy as usual, Anju is studios, and Mizuki is, well, Mizuki."  
Haruka was a green and black raccoon, she was the more serious and cruel one of the group at the age of sixteen. Anju was a brown cat with green eyes she was 15 now. She was the genius of the group. Her intelligence matched that of Tails or Doctor Eggman. Mizuki was a platinum haired cheetah with orange eyes. Due to her sad and painful back ground she had mastered the art of having absolutely no emotion. She had a face of so little emotion it rivaled even Shadow's, there fore it was hard to tell what she was feeling.  
"When are we going to be able to see you again?" Miki whined.  
"It dependents, I'm almost always busy here, and with Eggman on the loose, I don't know when I'll be able to hang out."  
"Aww, Its no fun with out you, we need our leader back." Miki pouted  
Amy couldn't help but smile. "Who knows maybe we could set up a week to hang out. Mercia isn't that far away. Maybe we could visit each other. She and her apprentices had grown the type of bond that would never break, even if she was their mentor and teacher. When ever Mercia was in trouble Amy and the group was always there to help. They had become the heroes of Mercia, but now Miki, Anju, and Haruka were ready to be on there own, and Amy had returned to her home town to continue her life, and see her friends again. "Don't worry about it Miki, I'm sure well see each other soon, but of coarse if there's anything you guys need help with feel free to call. Okay?"  
"Okay. Bye" Miki said sadly before hanging up.  
For a few weeks time seemed to slow down. Amy's job became more normal, and she was able to hang out with her friends every once in a while, but she could still feel a rift between her friends. Before she had gone to Mercia, Cream would call her all the time, and she and the others would hang out all the time, but now they only seemed to talk on weekends and every once in a while.  
One Saturday Amy was cleaning out her garage. She found all sorts of junk in there, like bicycle parts, old nick knacks, just old stuff. Then she came across a box in the corner and opened it. Inside were some old pictures of time with her friends. She had forgotten about it during her six year absence. She found her old piko-piko hammer from when she was a little kid. For a second she though about her childhood, and also felt several thoughts she had until now ignored, then, as if on cue she heard someone from behind. She turned suddenly to see it was Sonic.  
"Hello Amy. Wow, this is a lot of stuff." He said looking around.  
"Hi Sonic" She said smiling then looked around herself "Yeah it is a lot."  
"Whatcha got there?" He asked referring to the box she was carrying.  
"Just some old stuff, I had almost forgotten it was here" She replied sadness creeping into her usually cheerful eyes.  
"What's wrong" Sonic said startled at her sudden sadness. 'What I say?' he thought.  
"Its nothing" She said trying to dismiss it. Sonic wouldn't give up though; anything that could make Amy of all people sad must be a very big deal.  
"Yes there is, come on Amy you can tell me, we've been friends years."  
Amy sighed "I guess I'm just sad that, everything seemed to change so much while I was gone, I don't know if I'll ever be able to catch up with you guys."  
Sonic understood. She was afraid her that her absence had caused a rift in her friendship with everybody. She had really missed her friends when she was gone, and probably thought that they had forgotten all about her, and moved on with their lives.  
"Don't worry Amy, we'll always be friends no matter what" Sonic said with his signature thumbs up and big grin. He offered his hand for and hand shake, but instead received a hug.  
"Thanks Sonic that means a lot"  
Sonic felt his cheeks warming up, but whole heartedly returned the hug.  
"Anything for a friend" he replied trying to hide his embarrassment.

Afterwards Sonic invited Amy to go bowling with him Tails and Knuckles knowing the others wouldn't mind. Sonic lost dead last of course, but Amy wondered if he did it on purpose. The next few weeks the group started to hang out more, going all over the place. They went to movies, amusement parks, and hiking trips. The only person who didn't come along was Shadow. Even after all those years he never tried to become close with anyone. The only time he would show up was if somehow Rouge blackmailed him into doing it. She was the closest thing to a friend he had, the others were more of acquaintances. It seemed that as the other got closer, Shadow became more solitary. Especially since Rouge, the group's main link to Shadow was busy hanging out with Knuckles. The only time anybody saw the dude was just passing by, and almost everyone never attempted to change that, probably influenced by the obvious tension between him and Sonic. Most still felt loyalty to Sonic; he was friendlier with everybody than Shadow who made it a point to stay alone.  
One afternoon, when the sun had started to set, and the sky had turned a very dark orange color, as the sun fought to stay shining, Amy was walking down the street. Her day had gone considerably well, but there was still a problem at work. One of the other nurses was really starting to piss her off. When ever she walked passed she would start whispering to her friends, and she would gossip on the daily basis. Amy tried to ignore it; it was really childish, but eventually the others started to treat her differently as well, as if she thought she was better than them. She sighed in dismay. She knew it would be foolish to start a fight; she wasn't about to lose her job over some jealous little girl, but if she didn't do something about it, then the rumors would continue, and work would be come even harder when her colleges started to believe them.  
She sighed again and looked around. That's funny she thought. She could have sworn she was going the right way. She now found her self on a more abandoned street. She shrugged. She would retrace her steps until she found a street she recognized. That's when she heard a noise behind her. She quickly looked over her shoulder to see that same green badger from before, this time he wasn't alone, there were at least five other mobians following him.  
"Well, well, well, fancy meeting you again." He sneered. His voice sounded horrible.  
"You know this woman?" Purple raccoon asked the badger.  
"Yeah she's the one that did this to me." He replied referring to his neck brace and broken nose.  
The raccoon looked surprised. "How could some little girl do THAT to you?!" he exclaimed.  
"She's tougher than she looks" The badger said grimly. "Now then let's see if you're so tough against all ten of us."  
'Wait, ten of them' Amy looked over her shoulder to see five more of those thugs. 'So, that's how it is.' She thought. She decided to play it cool.  
She chuckled to hide her nervousness; it seemed to work because they all looked at her like she was some sort of freak.  
"So is this what you do in your free time? Corner young women out in the streets late at night? How pathetic," She said giving them a scary grin, suddenly in a blur of movement she kicked the huge badger lifting him off the ground and sending him into his fellow thugs. Then while the group behind her was distracted she turned on her heel taking a stance then hitting the one closest to her right in the gut. He crumpled to the ground but victory was short live as Amy felt something hit her in the back of the head. For a second she was disoriented, and the rest of the group took the opportunity. She curled into a ball for protection, giving her a second to come up with a plan. Then acted on in, making an swift kick in a circle at the groups feet, causing many of them to fall, but there were so many and she couldn't keep track of them. One of them sent a kick at her stoma, it collided painfully sending her bumping into the wall, and knocking the breath out of her lungs. She felt her consciousness wearing away, and prepared herself for an attack when suddenly a figure appeared out of no where. It was Shadow!  
The group was surprised at first at his sudden appearance, and it was the badger that recovered first.  
"Hey dude, you really should mind your own business, you could get hurt." He said sneering in Shadow's face. Shadow on the other hand found that comment less that funny.  
"You really shouldn't underestimate someone, you could get hurt." Shadow said. Suddenly the badger found himself on the floor coughing up his own blood. Then felt him being thrown into a wall, feeling every bone in his body cracking from the impact, and then he blacked out blood flowing from a gash on his forehead.

"Anybody else wants to get smart with me?" Shadow threatened.  
"Nah no thanks" said the raccoon. During the whole display he had somehow remained calm. "Let's go guys" he said leading the others away.  
"But Boss, what about Bruno?' A big muscular cat asked not taking his eyes of Shadow.  
The raccoon shrugged. "He had it coming." The group took a backwards glance towards their former leader then quickly followed their new boss.  
Shadow watched until they had disappeared. Apparently they weren't as loyal to their former leader now that he had been defeated. Then he looked behind him at Amy who had gotten to her feet. She swayed a little but Shadow quickly caught her.

"Are you alright?" He asked trying to keep his voice neutral.  
"Yes I'm fine. Thank you Shadow; you saved me." She said giving him a weak smile.

He just nodded.  
Then to before Amy knew it she was on Shadows back.  
"Let's get you home" He said before running at a speed to rival Sonic's.  
He felt Amy's grip tighten around his neck as he accelerated. It was a long way to her house, and by the time they had got there, Amy had fallen asleep.

The next morning it took Amy a little while to figure out just what happened, but then it all came rushing back. Somehow Shadow had got there in time to save her. Now she wondered why he decided to save her, she hadn't done anything for him. As she pondered that question she was startled as the phone rang.

"Hello?"  
"Hi Amy its Rouge, it's Saturday, and you know what that means"  
"No work." Amy said jokingly.  
"Ha, ha, ha, very funny" Rouge said sarcastically. "It's our weekly shopping spree, you are coming right?"  
"Yeah, I'll be there."  
She hung up, and got out of bed to get ready. She groaned as she felt sore all over. This was going to be a long day.


	5. Chapter 5

Changed Seasons Chapter 5

One Friday Sonic called for an emergency meeting at Tail's workshop.

When everyone had arrived, and after a short greeting from Silver and Blaze to Amy, Tails filled them in on what was going on. Tails had found Eggman's secret base, after several years of searching.

It was located on a small island in the middle of the Mobian Sea. So far Tail's using several satellites, had been able to get an over all map of the building. It was well hidden deep in a thick jungle.

"You could hide anything in there, and it wouldn't be found for years," Tails exclaimed

"Which is how a base that size, could have gone undetected for so long" Shadow added grimly.

"So what do you need us to do" Rouge said bluntly.

"Oh, that's simple, we just need to get into Eggman's base, find out what he's up to, get as much data as possible, find a solution to it, and blow up his base as a plus." Tails explained lightly. "The trouble is making sure he doesn't get away this time. Amy questions?" He asked. "Well then, first we should pick teams, so we can figure out who's doing what"

Naturally Silver and Blaze were teamed up since they knew each other's strengths and weaknesses better, Knuckles, Sonic were teamed, Tails was staying behind at the workshop's computer room, to oversee everything, Cream who even though more powerful, but still needing help was teamed with Rouge, so that left Amy and Shadow.

Rouge, and Cream, and Silver and Blaze were to got to opposite areas of the building, and destroy it from the inside out, while Amy and Shadow were to got to the super computer and get as much data as possible, while Sonic and Knuckles distracted Dr. Eggman. They agreed to do it once it got dark, so they would be less noticeable.

They arrived silently on the island via the X- Tornado right when the sun had started to set, and split up. First they had to get through the jungle to the building. It was a gray affair with three floors including the underground one, and looked more like a factory than anything else.

Soon Shadow and Amy found them selves right outside the eastern wall. Using a small laser Tails had given her, Amy cut a hole big enough for them to fit, but small enough to be unnoticeable.

"Ladies first" Shadow said gesturing towards to hole.

Amy shrugged, and then step in, getting out the way for Shadow to come through. She scanned the empty hallway for any cameras while Shadow gently placed the metal circle back into the wall.

"Let's go"

They cautiously, but quickly made their way through the corridors checking each corner before proceeding, following a small map Tails had digitally created on a small wrist watch. They were already half way there when they first heard cannon shots from outside the walls; Sonic and Knuckles had gotten Eggman's attention.

"I hope there're okay." Amy said more to herself.

"They'll be okay, but we had better hurry while Eggman's preoccupied.

After a few minutes they found themselves at the door to the computer room.

"Now we have to find a way in" Shadow mumbled.

That's when Amy noticed the vent. Gladly she was wearing pants so it was less awkward climbing the wall and getting in. It was dusty, go figure, and had spider webs galore. She made her way down the vent shaft and poked her head through the one leading to the computer room. She climbed down scanned the room. No cameras, bots, or Eggman. Then she went to the door which opened from the inside, and motioned to Shadow to hurry in. She guessed from his expression he hadn't even noticed her gone.

"How did you…"

"Vents now come on."

Amy went to the computer, which was already on and plugged in the special USB drive, which automatically downloaded everything in the entire system. Shadow scanned the room to make sure nobody surprised them. Amy had just finished when suddenly flashing red lights went off screaming;

"Intruder alert, Intruder Alert!"

Suddenly a door slid open and a giant octopus looking robot came into the room and focused on the two hedgehogs before attacking.

As Shadow battled the monster, Amy grabbed the USB, and then with a devilishly evil grin, set the computer to self destructing the entire base.

Then she heard a sickening crack as Shadow was slammed against the wall by one of the huge tentacles with bone crushing force.

She quickly attacked the monsters main body with a hard kick, which left a dent the size of a desk, and destroyed the inner body. It fell with a loud crash.

"Are you alright Shadow?" Amy said running up to him.

"I'm fine" He grunted standing up. He grabbed her hand and ran out of the computer room, and down the halls, pulling Amy along.

In the hallway was complete chaos, the walls them selves were exploding right behind them. Finally they saw an opening straight ahead. Quickly Shadow picked Amy up bridal style, and right through the door as a wall of flames threatened to catch up, then sending them like a bullet in a gun, over the trees of the jungle. For a small second they flew over the trees until they started to lose momentum, and Amy felt Shadow curling into a ball of protection as they came crashing down to the forest floor. After a few minutes Amy regained consciousness, looking around. The canopy caused almost no moonlight to get through to the forest floor. She could barely see two inches in front of her. Actually, if it hadn't been for the scarlet streaks on his fur, she probably wouldn't have been able to see Shadow even if he was only a foot away. He was still unconscious.

The distant sounds of thunder alerted her to the need to find shelter. She breathed in deeply, clearing her mind. First she had to get light. She felt around in her backpack, until she found what she was looking for; a flash light. She clicked it on and pointed it around, it landed on the base of a rock structure where at the base was an almost cave like shelter. Then she tried to get Shadow up using her shoulders to support him. He was actually heavier than he looked. She made it to under the tree's roots just in time to escape the rain. Her flashlight could only provide so much light; what she needed was a fire. She took out two rocks, and a couple of sticks, and then using a trick she had learned from Rob had a small fire in no time. She tried to get her phone to work, but sadly no service.

She looked over to where Shadow was soundly sleeping. He seemed to have no idea what was going on. Then the first wave of fatigue hit her. She felt all strength leaving her, and her vision started to blur, then she blacked out.

The next morning Shadow woke with a start. Immediately he flinched at the sudden pain in his ribs, then he suddenly remembered. He looked around at the cave, until out of his peripheral vision saw shot of pink out breaking the brown monotony. It was Amy curled in a little ball. That explained why he was in a cave. Then a sudden pain went through his arm as he felt the large gash. Somehow Amy's delicate ears must have heard him.

She looked up aroused from her sleep and stretched as she yawned.

"Morning" She said cheerfully.

"You're strangely cheerful this morning"

She looked thoughtful for a second.

"Am I cheerful, of are you just glum. Then again it could be a combination of both"

"What ever, lets just –" He broke off as he winced at a sudden pain from his rib.

Amy saw the movement

"You're hurt" she said concerned.

"No I'm not" Shadow said defensively.

"Yes you are." She said remembering how the Eggtopus had nearly crushed him to death.

He seemed not to hear her as he started picking at the wound on his arm.

"If you keep picking at it it'll only get worse" She said grimly.

He watched as she stood up reaching in her backpack and came over to where he was sitting.

She saw his defensive stance, and put her hands on her hips.

"Look, I'm only trying to help, there's no need to act like a little kid. Let me see."

He gave her a look, but taking note of her serious expression relaxed his stance still watching her cautiously.

She rolled her eyes but saw there would be no use arguing any further.

He had twelve broken ribs. No wonder he was being such a baby, she had broken ribs before, and they are not fun.

She took out a roll of bandages and wrapped them tightly.

"Can you breathe?" She asked when she was finished.

He just nodded somberly.

"Okay, just tell me if you have trouble breathing, okay?"

He looked like he was about to say something, but then dropped it, instead he left.

"H-hey what for me!" she said running to catch up.

After a few minutes of walking, Amy started to wonder how the others were.

"They'll be fine" Shadow said shortly after she had voiced her concerns.

"But how do you know?"

"I can sense, they're a couple of miles ahead."

"What! How can you hear that far ahead?" She said stunned.

"It's a gift. Now do you think you can be quiet long enough for me to find them?"

"You don't have to be rude." She mumbled.

After a few minutes of walking Amy could hear them and as they got out of the thick trees, they saw Sonic and the group with the X-tornado. Sonic was the the first to notice, and he ran up to them.

"Finally your back, we've been waiting all night for you guys, what, was Eggman to much for you or something." He said mentally sneering as he saw Shadow's bandages.

Shadow just walked on by ignoring him as if he wasn't there.

Sonic frowned at his arrogance, and then directed his attention to Amy. In truth he had been really worried about her.

"Are you okay Amy? That faker didn't try anything did he?"

"Nah, I'm fine, he was really helpful. Oh I almost forgot; I got the information you guys wanted. Just let me give this to Tails." She said walking up to the orange fox in long graceful strides.

Later on, on the way home in the X-tornado, everyone was lounging.

Shadow was in the back, his hands behind his head, trying to fall asleep, when Rouge decided to bother him.

"Ahem" she said sitting in the seat right across for him.

"What"

"Oh, just trying to preoccupy myself"

"Okay and your bothering me because…"

"Because I enjoy the though of bothering you twenty-four seven, _yes, let's find a way to annoy Shadow_." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You may have meant it to be sarcastic, but I actually think you do enjoy annoying people."

"Oh please, that's only for people with no life"

"And you do?"

"Humph. So, how was your alone time with Amy last night" She said snickering easily.

"I would not know what you're talking about, seeing as I was unconscious, but knowing you, I won't even dare to try and figure out what image has been produced in that dirty mind of yours."

"And what are you implying by that!"

"Nothing, nothing" He said an amused smirk threatening to break through the cold emotionless expression he always wore. He looked out the window watching the clouds they passed by and found himself daydreaming. He shuddered at the thought that Rouge had placed in his head, trying to focus on something else. 'Note to self, have Rouge placed in an asylum someplace he thought grimly to himself.'

Then he scanned the rest of the plane just in time to see everybody laughing at some apparently hilarious joke from Sonic, He couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy for a second, as a wake of loneliness came crashing down on him. Then the feeling passed leaving a quickly as it had come. He sighed to himself, and looked out the window seeking relief from his miserable thoughts.

"Hello." A voice said brightly.

He looked up to see that Rouge had left to sit in the front with Knuckles, while Amy had taken her place.

They were suddenly startled by Sonic and the guys laughing way too loud.

Amy wrinkled her nose.

"They're so noisy. That's why I came back here in the first place, but instead they get even louder defeating the purpose."

"We could always knock them all out" Shadow offered.

"Ha. I'll get the shovel. Then again, by the time these idiots are knocked out it'll be time to land"

"Kill joy"

"Oh, as if you're just a great ball of sunshine all the time"

"Yup, that's me, Mr. Happiness"

Still laughing Amy took out her I-pod.

"No fair, that's cheating." He said sulkily.

She playfully stuck her tongue at him.

"That's why you should always be prepared."

"Sorry, I missed that boy scout meeting"

She stuck her tongue out again then chuckled.

"Hello guys, how's it going?" Sonic said striding to the back of the plane.

Shadow pointedly ignored him, returning to staring out the window.

"Fine" Amy said half-heartedly. The point of her coming back here had been to talk to Shadow, he was always separate from the group, and she wanted him to feel welcome, but with Sonic around that would be impossible.

"So what are you guys talking about" Sonic ventured.

"Whether or not knocking you out with a shovel is a good way to get you to shut up."

"Oh, what was that faker? Is your _boo-boo_ hurting?"

"Oh wow, a _child _could have come up with better. Then again you _do _only have the mental capacity of a one year old."

"And what's that suppose to mean?"

"Oh I'm sorry I'll say it in words you can actually understand; you equals dummy."

"You want some of this faker?" Sonic said menacingly; He had had enough.

"Oh I'm so scared, bring it on faker."

They both were in mid jump when they felt themselves punched back with amazing force into the seats

"Enough already; Sonic you are going to sit right in the front all the way to the left. And you Shadow are going to sit in the back, all the way to the right. If you're going to act like children, then you're going to be punished like children. You have three seconds to get there 1!"

"But Amy"

"2!!"

"But"

"DON'T MAKE ME GET TO THREE!"

"Fine" grudgingly they went to their seats spitting their tongues out at each other childishly.

"Boys" Amy grumbled rolling her eyes, then taking a seat in the middle, turning the volume to her I-pod up loud enough for everyone on the plane to hear it.

As soon as she sat down Tails, Knuckles and Silver got into fits of laughter.

Sonic exchanged a glare that said;

"We'll finish this later"

Shadow sneered obnoxiously;

"Anytime, anyplace"


	6. Chapter 6

Changed Seasons Chapter 6

At the GUN headquarters, Rouge was sitting in her office with that annoying sensation that she had forgotten something. She looked at her calendar over an over again but just couldn't remember what it was. She hit her head on the desk in frustration.

"Who is it?" She shouted at a knock at the door to her office.

"Um, s-sorry m-mama" It was Britney Rouge's secretary so to speak.

"Sorry Britney. What is it?" Rouge said taking on a softer voice. It wasn't fair for her to take out her problems on her colleges, and her secretary was already jumpy enough.

"Um, I need Mr. Robotnick's signatures"

"Okay, I'll bring it to him. Oh and Britney,"

"Y-yes"

"Loosen up a little before you give yourself a heart attack." She said jokingly.

She got up retrieving the forms still plagued by that annoying feeling.

She knocked on the door.

"Come in" a very bored sounding voice said.

Rouge opened the door to Shadow's office.

"You sound bored, is a desk job not active enough for you"

"Humph, what is it."

"The usual; signatures. _Get excited_"

Shadow groaned. "This is so boring."

While Shadow signed the many papers Rouge frowned into space trying to solve her dilemma.

"What is it?" Shadow asked not looking up.

"Don't you ever get the feeling you forgot something?"

"Oh. Have you tried meditating?"

"What! You mean that thing were you cross your legs and start flouting?"

"Actually, that's a misconception. Meditation is just means 'to think deeply'."

"Yeah, yeah but that still doesn't solve my problem."

"Try meditating. It really does help."

She didn't look convinced.

"So, what're you going to for Knuckles Birthday?"

"Oh my god, that's what I had forgotten. Err. I can't believe I forgot."

"Don't feel too horrible, I had to remind him of yours for the last two years."

"WHAT!"

"So you didn't answer my question, what are you doing for it."

"I don't know, what do guys like anyway?"

"You can't go wrong with wrestling. The guy actually borrowed my television after he broke his own, JUST to watch the Raw Smack Down thing."

"Really, Hmm"

"Yup, anyway, I'm finished."

"Thank you." She said before leaving hurriedly. She had work to do; if she was going to end up watching a wrestling match, she might as well see what to expect.

As soon as she got home she started twelve hours of wrestling matches.

"So tired," Rouge mumbled sleepily, as she Amy and Cream walked to the mall.

"That's what you get trying to watch twelve hours of television with no break." Cream said playfully.

"You didn't HAVE to come along, if its getting in the way of your health you really shouldn't force yourself; it's only a trip to the mall" Amy said sympathetically. She was only trying to do something nice for a friend, and didn't need to strain herself.

Rouge sighed.

"Nah it's to early to sleep now, if I did, then my entire sleeping pattern would be ruined"

"Hey, at least it will be worth having some fun with Knuckles." Amy said playfully elbowing Rouge.

"Your rights now let's do some shopping!" Rouge said with sudden energy.

They went all over the place. First they went to GAP, Aeropostale, and FYE, and then they went to Lunch and Borders completing their shopping spree. As they went through the mall, they noticed how so many stores were already getting ready for Christmas.

"Christmas decorations go up earlier and earlier every year." Cream stated as they passed by a big Christmas tree in the middle of the court room.

"Yeah, but in a way that might be a good thing, the sooner people get ready for it the longer people are celebrating, and I guess, acting Christmassy."

"Hmm"

"So, what are you doing for Christmas?"

"I haven't really thought about it much," Amy said.

"I know, lets have a party, we could invite everyone, and have a secret Santa, and everything."

"Hmm, that would be fun,"

The girls chatted all day trying to come up with ideas of what to do for Christmas. Eventually they settled on Creams ides for a party.

With careful planning by the end of the week, everything was planned out.

To Rouge, Knuckles' birthday had snuck up on her too fast. She left her house and flew over to his place, then rung the doorbell waiting with anticipation for him to answer the door.

When he got to the door Knuckles was surprised to see Rouge. The only time he saw her was when the group was meeting up, or (even though she hadn't said anything about it in a while) she was trying to get at the Master Emerald. She may have been friendlier lately, but that didn't mean she had completely changed.

"Hello Knuckles. Happy Birthday," she said handing him a small present.

Now he felt really guilty for being so suspicious of her.

"Hello Rouge, thank you. Umm, what is it?" He said curiously.

"Open it and find out." She said playfully.

He looked at her suspiciously for a second then shrugged and opened it. For a second he stared at the present then back at Rouge.

For a second Rouge felt suddenly worried that maybe he didn't like the gift, but instead he surprised her.

"Either I am dreaming, or I have just gone crazy." He said quietly. "Do you have any idea what these are?"

"Yes I do, so do you want to go or not"

"These are tickets to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Scramble match; I would be a complete and total idiot to not go! Come on before we're late"

Before she could even reply Knuckles grabbed her hand and ran full speed.

They had gotten to their seats right in time. Basically it was a 20 minute fight, where randomly two competitors would enter first, then every five minutes another competitor would enter. When competitor scores a pin fall or submission then they become the current champion, then when the 20 minutes are up the current champion becomes the official champion.

The first two competitors were a huge white wolf White Fang, and TLC a hyena who even though was a little smaller, was still impressively big. The bell rang and they attacked each other simultaneously throwing each other back. They hit each other with so much force they were barely able to come back after taking a hit. Then White fang was on the floor as TLC attempted the first pin fall, but before the ref. could even start he was up again. He forced a blow right in TLC's face which stunned the hyena giving White fang time to send at least five strikes to the stomach. Then they were out of the mat punching and kicking. Then White Fang kicked TLC right into the steel stairs but right as he fell, the fires started, and the third participant came on. It was Legend a squirrel with the height of at least 6 foot 2 and weight of 376 lbs. He came down obvious confidence striding in as if he owned the place. He got to the ring and with TLC indisposed White fang was the target. He pulled himself in the ring and without further invitation attacked White Fang head on. White fang went down in a series of punches and kicks. Then as he was on the floor Legend jumped on the ropes of the ring and jumped on White Fang with sickening force.

Rouge could feel the emoting in the air. The fans were cheering and booing there hearts out, and Knuckles, to put it mildly, was equally out of control. The funny thing was, she was actually having fun. It was completely different from the sophisticated environment she usually was in. As Legend, after a series of punches leaving White Fang in utter defeat, focused his attention on the other opponents, Rouge joined Knuckles in his immature booing and hissing.

Then the final player was introduced. It was Venom the Kangaroo, the survivor of the earlier fights. He came limping down the aisle not having been completely recovered from his earlier fight. Legend took one look at him, and laughed loudly, then turned his attention to the remaining opponents in the ring, but venom wasn't one to be ignored. There was only ten more minutes on the clock, with White Fang as the current champion. Legend had turned his attention to White Fang that had come back to the ring with vengeance. They were dukeing it out for at least five minutes before either one of them began to slow down. Rouge noticed that while Legend and White fang were preoccupied Venom had started with TLC. It was twenty five seconds before the end when Legend became the current champion, then to everyone's surprise, literally just five seconds before the bell. The beep of a new current champion sounded-. It was Venom!

The crowd went wild.

Then with the heat of the moment before she even knew what was happening.

Rouge felt it as Knuckles pulled her into a tight embrace, and kissed her full on the mouth.

Realizing what had happened, Knuckles quickly put her down thinking he had gone to far and she was mad, but to his surprise she just smiled seductively pulling him into another passionate kiss.

As soon as Rouge got home she pounced on the phone clicking the speed dial, like, if she didn't tell somebody what just happened it would completely fade away from reality.

"Hello?" Said Amy as she picked up the phone, and then had to hold the phone a foot away as she heard the delighted squeal. "I'm guessing it went well." Amy said chuckling.

Rouge kept her up all night giving her every single solitary detail she could.

The next morning Rouge walked into her office, a lot more cheerfully than usual.

Britney, who was expecting a very grumpy boss, stuttered through the sentence;

"A-are y-y-you alright m-ma'am?"

"Yup, never better" Rouge said cheerfully as she unlocked her office.

After a few minutes she heard muffled voices outside her door then Britney, and another co-worker popped their heads in.

"Good morning ma'am, nice day isn't it?"

"Yup"

They closed the door and Rouge thought she distinctly heard whispering.

"I'm guessing your date went well." Shadow said as he entered her office.

"Yes, it went perfectly," She said going into LaLa land. "Thank you so much for the idea"

"No problem," he sighed jokingly "What would you people do without me"

Even though he had said it with no trace of emotion, Rouge had known him long enough to tell when he was joking or not.

"What ever, go back to work" she said joking.

"Hey, I thought I was the boss"

"Well to bad. So, are you going to the party?"

He mentally cringed. She knew what he felt about parties and other social gatherings.

He could see exactly what would happen if he went;

He would just be standing by the punch bowl for the whole time feeling alone and sorry for himself watching everyone else have fun, then that faker would start a fight, and lose of course, causing everyone to get mad at him, then he would leave feeling betrayed and hurt, 'Like always' He thought.

"Nope"

"Aww, why not, it'll be fun." She pleaded

"I am _not_ going to stand around that _faker_ and act like everything's okay." He snapped

"Oh, is that why you don't like hanging out with us?"

"No, that's not the only reason"

"Then tell me"

"No thank you"

Rouge sighed. "Fine, but if you change your mind it's going to be at Tail's house."

"I won't"

"Fine, but you'll be sorely missed" then the idea struck. "Especially by Amy"

For a second his heart skipped a beat and he hesitated.

'Gotcha' Rouge thought.

"That…doesn't change anything."

'She'll probably be all over that faker anyway' he thought glumly to himself.

Rouge smirked to her self; that should have worked. Even if he hid it extremely well, from everyone else, she could tell he still had a soft spot for their pink hedgehog friend; ever since she somehow changed his mind on the ark. At least now he'll be thinking about, and who knows, he might even change his mind and decide to go.

"Anyway, as I said earlier, you are always welcome to show up."

"Humph"

Shadow left and went to his office trying to preoccupy himself with his paper work.

But every few minutes he found his mind going back to trying to decide whether or not he should go. He cursed to himself. It was rouge's fault. All he wanted was to just be left alone, but no Rouge just had to bring something else up.

After work he went home to watch TV and eat. Then when the sky became dark and there was nothing good on TV, he just sat sulking to him self.

On one hand there was a possibility that if he went he would just stay to himself watching everyone else have fun, then, inevitable, he would get into a fight with someone, and end up leavening. Then even if Amy _was_ going to be there she would be way to busy hanging out with her friends to even notice him. Then on the other hand, there was a very slim chance that he would have fun, and he sitting here getting worried over nothing. He sighed and stubbornly told himself he would not under any circumstances go to that party. Then he yawned as fatigue over came him, and giving up, went to bed.


	7. Chapter 7

Changed Seasons Chapter 7

(Shadow's POV)  
Pain  
That was all I could feel at this point, as I squatted behind one of the dumpsters of Station Square waiting for a moment when the huge spherical robot that was after me would be distracted, and I could attack.  
It had been a regular Saturday; I was running around Westopolis trying to find something to do. I had gone to the park for some peace and quiet, and then I had gone on one of my weekly runs. This week it had been to some mountain peaks I had heard of from a couple of Mobians. They had been talking about seeing this amazing lake that had been completely untouched by civilization. It sounded like a good place to just chill. Fortunately it had been just as the group had described it, the water was a crystal clear blue teaming with life, and surrounding it was a field of wild flowers stretching out for several long miles. In the distance you could see the mighty peaks of surrounding mountains, which from the distance had the color of a majestic blue. It seemed a place of the many fairy tales that Maria had told me about when I was younger; it had the air of complete innocence, and magic. For at least an hour, I had sat leaning against a boulder watching the clouds pass by over head, and then I began to feel restless. I had stood up taking a glance at the beauty of the field, before running off, letting my surrounding blur pass me as I gained speed. I was just in the middle of station square when I thought I heard a scream. I skidded to a halt and looked around trying to identify the noise, when the ground started rumbling. The right in front of me, a humongous spherical robot with four legs and a small flat head rose from the ground.  
Its head focused on me for a second then it attacked, using its razor sharp claw like hands to grab me. I dodged its two arms as they came for me, and then quickly sent two Chaos Spears careening into its hull, but if anything all it left was a burn mark.  
I scowled at the monster as it brought up its two front arms and rotating the hands in buzz saws. I jumped up at least a story high and spin dashed straight into its head. It started to fall back from the force, but as I uncurled my self out of the spin dash, one of its arms came down, crushing me into the ground. I winced at the excruciating pain in my not fully healed rib cage, then ignoring the pain; I pushed the arm off of me, and then held it, pulling the arm, and spun it around the square, crashing it into one of the buildings.  
Then I hit it with several Chaos spears. This time, they actually made a big dent in the robots hull, but that wasn't enough. It started to stand up, and while I was distracted by the main body, I didn't notice one of its arms grip onto my right leg with its razor sharp claws until it was too late. It crashed me into one of the third floors of a near by building, leaving a hole in one of the walls. The people inside the office where I had landed ran from their cubicles panicking. At least they got to safety; the robot then grabbed me by the torso, and threw me in the air, then started kicking me like some sort of soccer ball. As I went up for the third time, I went into a spin dash, and crashed into its hull, this time I broke through the main shell exposing the inside wires. I landed on the ground as it fell back, but immediately felt a pain right through my leg. This wasn't working, I had to buy myself time to come up with a way to beat this monstrosity. I ran to an alley way and crouched behind a dumpster. 'This robot's shell is just too strong for my regular attacks' I thought as I glanced from behind the dumpster. The robot was searching for me, and would find me in a few more moments. I looked around; there was nobody around to get hurt by my next idea. I took a deep breath standing up, then too off my rings. Immediately I felt my power threaten to overwhelm me. I slowly opened my eyes seeing that everything seemed to go by so slowly, which usually resulted from this sudden rush of power. Finally the robot seemed to see me, but it was too late for him. I jumped up next to his head, and letting all my pent up aggression and anger rush forward, and feeling chaos energy flowing through my body, released it all in my deadly, signature move; "CHAOS, BLAST!!!"  
Everything in the immediate radius was blown to dusk. One minute the robot was standing there, and then next moment there was nothing but a crater of burn ash.  
I feel to my feet still in pain, and picked up my rings. As I put them on, I felt a little more energized, but only a little. I needed help. Holding my bleeding right arm, I limped away, pain dazing my thoughts. Who could I go to for help, at this time, the sky was already darkening. Amy; she was the closest person to where I was at the moment. I took out my Green Chaos emerald and summoned the energy I needed, to chaos control right outside the house of Amy Rose. With the last of my strength I limped to her doorstep, and knocked on the door. She opened the door and the last I saw was her shocked face as I croaked the last few words; "Amy… please…help." before my vision darkened.  
(End of POV)

(Normal POV  
Amy couldn't help the feeling of shock as she opened the door to find Shadow completely covered in blood and scratches, and she almost panicked when she heard his say in such a weak voice; "Amy…please…help" before he completely lost all consciousness. She caught him recovering quickly, and brought him to her couch. He would need to be cleaned up first to make sure she didn't miss anything. She took his skates, which she noticed were cracked up and broken, as well as his gloves and rings, then carried him up to her bathroom. She set him in the tub, and using the shower hose, sprayed him down with the warm water. Then when all the blood had been cleared away, she dried him up with a towel and carried him to her guest room. The walls were a gray color, with a black bookshelf, cabinet, and desk, with a silver computer, and silver lamps. The windows had gray blinds and black curtains attached to a silver curtain rod, and completing it was a bed with black sheets and comforter. She laid him on the bed and went downstairs for her first aid kit. She then went back to examine her guest. He had a long deep cut on his leg, and one across his chest, then she noticed with almost annoyance, his rib cage, which were already damaged were in even worse state than before. She sighed as she tightly bandaged his rib cage, and then applied Neosporin to his wounds. Other than his broken rib cage, and the deep cuts on his leg and chest, and the minor wounds, he was okay. When she finished she packed her stuff up couldn't help smiling at his sleeping form; the sight was adorable. He was curled up in a little ball with a peaceful look on his face. She patted his head affectionately. 'I hope he's going to be okay' she thought. 'I wonder what happened to him.  
She went downstairs to put her first aid kit up, and then went to her living room to turn off her lights. Before she left she saw Shadow's gloves and skates were she had left them, and put them on the desk next to where he was silently sleeping.  
She went to her room right as the telephone rung.  
"Hello"  
"Hi, Amy its Rouge, do you know where Shadow is, I just heard that he was last seen fighting a huge robot in station square, and we cant seem to find him."  
"Yeah, he's here, looked pretty banged up too"  
"Oh, good, how's he doing?"  
"He's fine, asleep at the moment."  
"Good, at least he's okay. Anyway, sorry to bother you, see you at the party next week."  
"Nah, its okay, see you later."  
She hung up the phone yawning, and went to bed.

The next morning Amy woke up at ten in the after noon, and stretched. Then after getting ready to start the day went down the hall to see if he was awake. She found him just as she had left him. She went to the kitchen and started making a breakfast of pancakes, cinnamon take-aparts, with scrambled eggs, and bacon. She had just come through the door when Shadow had woken up. It took him a moment to take in his surroundings.  
"So you're finally awake, I made you breakfast." She said smiling brightly, as she brought him his tray.  
"Huh, oh, thanks. What happened?" He said, evidentially still confused.  
"I was going to ask you the same thing. Rouge called and said you were fighting a robot at station square though"  
"Oh yeah, that's what happened" He said as it all came flooding back. He finished eating then said "thank you for breakfast, it was good"  
"Your welcome" She said brightly taking his tray. "Are you feeling better?" She asked when she came back.  
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for all your help. Umm, I had better go, and stop intruding on your hospitality. Where are my skates?" He asked trying to shake the dazed feeling he had out of his head.  
"Umm, I'm sorry to tell you this, but they're sort of broken" She said cautiously awaiting his reaction.  
He groaned as a cold feeling filled his stomach. "How badly"  
"See for yourself" She said handing him his pair of skates.  
He started in horror for a second at them. They were utterly useless to him now. 'That's just great' he thought. Now how was he supposed to do anything now? With out his skates, he was no faster than Amy. How was he supposed to compete with Sonic now?  
He grimaced at that last thought, and Amy took it as a sign that he was angry.  
"Are you mad at me?" She said quietly.  
"What? No, of course not, you helped me as much as you could, and I'm thankful for that. No, I'm mad at that stupid fat-so, Eggman, for freaking sending his damned robot at me."  
"Oh" she said, as her spirit lifted. "I think I have a pair of shoes you could borrow."  
"Really, Thanks" He said, as she went to her closet and took down a box of shoes. They fit perfectly. "Thank you for all of your help, Amy. I'll return the shoes as soon as I can."  
He said before he left.

Amy then went to clean up when she found Shadow's old skates still in the guest room then as she picked them up got an idea.  
(A week later)  
Shadow walked down the streets of Westopolis in a bad mood. He had already returned Amy's shoes, and was wearing black boots and a dark crimson colored jacket. He looked up at the sky which was a blanket of dark gray clouds leaving the entire tri-state area with not a ray of sunshine. He shivered as a blast of cold air hit him, and then sighed. Now that he didn't have his skates, he felt glum. Now he couldn't take his runs around the world, and escape the dreary atmosphere of the city. Another thing was the idea of everyone celebrating Christmas Eve all around him, but leaving him by himself in the cold streets of the city. He growled in annoyance as he stepped into a slushy puddle. Even though it hadn't snowed at all, it was so cold outside that the puddles were beginning to freeze but the passing of cars kept on getting in the way of the freezing process leaving them in a state of slushy water. With a sigh Shadow continued his walking and had just entered the park.

Amy was jogging home down the streets of Westopolis wearing her short red Christmas dress. It was long sleeved with white fur at the end of the sleeves, and the bottom and at the top of the dress, which showed the top of her arms, and a black belt at the waist. She was also wearing matching boots, and a Santa hat. The Christmas party had just ended at eleven it had been a huge success. Almost everyone was there. They had a lot of fun conversating, and playing games like charades, they had also exchanged gifts. It had been a lot of fun, but she still felt a twinge of sadness at the thought that Shadow hadn't attended. Then her heart gave a sudden start when she saw, as if on cue, Shadow sitting on one of the benches at the park deep in thought. As she walked down the path he stood up as he saw her coming.  
"Amy, what are you doing here?"  
"Hello Shadow, I just came to give you this" She said smiling as she held out a beautifully rapped present.  
Shadow was shocked. Usually nobody even bothered to remember him.  
"Really, what…what is it?" He said still trying to recover from his shock.  
"Open it and find out silly" She said laughing warmly.  
He slowly opened the lid and was astonished when he found his skates, only this time they looked brand new as if they had never be used before. Then more shock was added, as Amy, smiling warmly, put a dark green scarf around his neck. He could feel the extra warmth immediately.  
"I got Tails to help me fix them." She said cheerfully "They're suppose to help you go faster, but don't tell Sonic that." She said jokingly. Then it was her turn to be completely shocked as Shadow flashed the most heart warming smile.  
"Amy…Thank you."  
She returned the smile, as she felt her spirit taking off completely. Then she chuckled as a snowflake floated down right to the tip of Shadow's nose. They looked around at the marvelous sight as it began to snow surrounding them in a white moonlit glow.  
Amy smiled around then her gaze found Shadow's watching the sight with his smile still playing at his lips.  
"Hey, it's getting cold out, want to come over for some hot chocolate?"  
"I don't want to impose; you've done so much for me already"  
"Nonsense, it's no trouble at all" then before he could say anything else, she grabbed his hand pulling him along.

It was passed twelve 'o' clock. Shadow put down his second mug of hot chocolate feeling warm and sleepy. Amy had taken the opportunity to ask him a few questions, trying not to be too nosey.  
"So, you haven't celebrated Christmas in almost 60 years!?" She said shocked.  
"Well, yes, but I was asleep in an ice cube for 50, so it's not entirely my fault." He said shrugging.  
"So what was it like celebrating Christmas in space?"  
He almost chuckled at the question.  
"Its pretty much like celebrating it here I guess. The only complication was, the Professor and Maria liked natural trees better, so it was a challenge getting it to the ark and back with out killing it."  
"Hmm" She thought this over. When her mug was empty she went to the kitchen for more hot chocolate, but when she came back, Shadow was fast asleep, curled up in a little ball again. The only thing that was different from the last time was, this time he was smiling. Smiling she took the cups to the kitchen sink, got him a blanket, and kissed him on the forehead before going to bed.  
"Merry Christmas, Shadow the hedgehog"


	8. Chapter 8

Changed Seasons Chapter 8

Special note: Westopolis is New York City in (my) Mobian world. In my Mobian world Mobius is just earth billions of years later, so everything has a new name, I'm just using the names of today to 'paint a picture' so to speak.

Anyway let the story begin!

Shadow was sitting under a tree in his usual thinking space in the park, eyes closed, and hands behind his head, thinking about the last few days. Nothing very interesting had happened besides Tails examining samples of the robot he had fought the other day. So far he had been unable to figure out exactly where the robot had come from, but quite frankly Shadow didn't mind if he never saw that fat doctor again. All his wounds had already healed except his rib cage. He sighed. Suddenly there was a strange breeze and he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Shadow, long time no see"

"Go away faker"

Sonic frowned mocking hurt.

"Aww, did someone get up on the wrong side of the bed? I was only trying to ask you something."

"Well then, ask me what it is, and go away."

"Fine, anyway you know, we've been competing with each other for almost 7 years, right, so, Knuckles and I were thinking, we should have a race symbolizing the end of one year, and the beginning of next year. Then the winner is crowned the fastest Mobian until New Year's Day next year. So what do you say?"

Shadow thought for a second. 'This has to be some sort of trick. Then again this is Sonic, if he were to win, as I'm sure he is confident that he will, and then he would rub it in my face for the entire year, the ultimate humiliation. After careful thinking he finally made his decision;

"Fine then Sonic, I except your challenge"

"Good, we shall start it at 12:00 pm at the starting line of the Westopolis National park. Don't be late." Sonic said before running off.

Shadow smirked. 'I won't be'. He thought. What Sonic didn't know was that Shadow had undergone some training since the last time they had raced. Then he frowned. Now that he thought about it, that was before tails had upgraded his skates. He sho0uld test them out a little before he got his hopes up, and then ended up making a fool of himself. He stood up and stretched. Then he ran at his normal pace. As the landscape changed he started going faster and faster trying to find where his limit was. He was starting to come up to his usual limit, but was surprised as instead of his skates staying stuck at the same pace when he willed them to go faster, they accelerated. His surroundings blurred to the point where nothing was straight, and they became a collage of millions of flashing colors. Then his head stated to swim, he wasn't use to going this fast. He skidded to halt, and was surprised to find himself in an unknown desert. 'Where in the world am I.' he thought. He ran forward, and then on the horizon he was astonished to find several pointed structures. 'Aww snap, those are the pyramids, I ran all the way to EQYPT!' he thought. Even billions of years after the human race went extinct, and the Mobian race appeared, Egypt was still there, and still known as Egypt. And even amazingly, the pyramids, which still symbolized human accomplishment, had lived on. Shadow walked up to the nearest of the structures, and admired it's height. Then using the rough edges of the structure climbed his way up to the very point of the pyramid. He could see for miles around nothing but the sandy dunes of the desert. Then he looked up to the sun which was beating down hard on him. If he didn't get out of there soon, he would probably die from the heat. He ran down sending a yellow flash and took off. He ran faster than ever before letting the background blur past him in a canvas of colors.

It was finally December 31st. it seemed like everyone in the entire world had come out to see the last race of the year between Sonic and Shadow.

"Its eleven forty five" Amy said to tails, who was in charge. Sonic was posing for photo graphs and blowing kisses to his many fans. "Where's Shadow he's going to be late"

Then there was a sudden breeze.

"I'm here" a deep voice said behind her.

"Well then get down there, we're about to start."

"Fine, fine." He said walking down standing next to Sonic right in front of the starting line.

"Hey Shads, I thought you weren't going to make it." Sonic said cockily.

"Whatever"

Tails looked to Amy, Knuckles and Rouge on his left, and Blaze, Silver, and ream, on his right, next to the podium he was standing at on the stage. They nodded that they were ready. He nodded back, and turned on the mike.

"Okay sports fans, and welcome to the race, to end all races."

The crowed cheered loudly, some holding signs displaying Sonic, others for Shadow.

"Okay, competitors, today's race will be a race around the world. There are 7 star post midpoints in each country that you will pass. The bracelets I have given you will tell the star post who is currently in the lead. The person who crosses the finish line first will be crowned the fastest Mobian of the year. You will star here in Westopolist, and go to the star post in Mexico City Mexico, Brasilia Brazil, Cairo Egypt, Moscow Russia, Beijing Chin, Uelen Russia, Regina Canada, then back here to the finish line. Make sure you stay in the path of the race, because if you try to take any short cuts, of if you miss a star post, you will be disqualified. You got that?"

Both competitors nodded.

Okay than, get ready, the race will start at exactly 12:00.

Both competitors stretched for a minute.

"Well then Shadow, let the best man win. Oh wait, that's me." Sonic said cockily.

"We'll see about that." Shadow said calmly.

It was 11:59.

"Okay then. On your mark…"

They got in position,

"Get set"

They revved up waiting for the buzzer,

"GO!!!"

They took of breaking the sound barrier.

"Do you think they'll be alright?' Amy said worriedly.

"Don't worry they'll be fine" Rouge assured her.

Amy looked to the big screens, where the two competitors were being monitored.

"I hope your right."

By the time Sonic and shadow had gotten to Beijing, it was just getting light outside, which meant that it was just getting dark back at home.

"This is sort of fun isn't it Shadow" Sonic said evidently trying to make conversation.

"What ever"

"Anyway this is taking too long, see you at the finish line" He said before speeding up.

Shadow speed up also staying at the same pace as Sonic.

"Just two more to go" Shadow said to himself. 'And two more hours until twelve o clock, or the end of the race' He thought.

Back at Westopolis everyone was conversating, easting, or watching the big screens.

"This is sort of cool" said Silver. "Sonic and Shadow get their race and we don't have to hear them fighting for another year."

"Not exactly, when Sonic wins this race, we'll never hear the end of it."

"What makes you think that Sonic will win?"

"Because I've known the guy for years Shadow doesn't stand a chance."

"yeah, but Shadow has gotten faster since the last time, and they already were dead even, he has a better chance now then Sonic, who just sat on his butt eating chili dogs or a year."

"Whatever, I still put my money on Sonic."

"Ten bucks says Shadow's going to win"

"Twenty bucks says otherwise."

"Then I almost feel guilty taking your money like this."

Amy scanned the area watching everyone who had come out for the race. She was going to hand the winner the trophy at the end, so she was wearing a long blue dress, with silver accents, and a tiara. She yawned behind one of her long gloved hands.

"Tired?' rouge asked.

Amy shook her head.

"Nah, I'm okay. This really was a good idea, now we won't have to worry about another race anytime soon. Oh yeah, you never told me what you laughing about earlier when you volunteered me for the trophy ceremony." She said.

"Oh that, it's nothing, I was just… remembering a joke Knuckles had told me. Oh hey blaze, long time no see" rouge said quickly.

Amy looked at her suspiciously for a second, and then shrugged.

She looked at the big screen. Sonic and Shadow were almost to the sixth star post. 'I wonder who will win this time'

Sonic and Shadow ran over the icy landscape, they could see the star posts in the distance. They speed up Shadow making it to the star post mere seconds before Sonic did. So far, Sonic had two star posts, while Shadow had four.

Tails watching on the big screen was sort of confused. He had designed the skates to go faster than 25,000 mph or in other words, the distance around the entire world in only one hour. He had expected Shadow to take advantage of it and finish the race in that one hour and thirty minutes, leaving Sonic crying for his momma, but he didn't. He only allowed himself to get a little bit faster than Sonic. While everyone else was talking he pulled Amy aside to ask her about it.

"Why wouldn't he just beat Sonic and get it over with. That's what Sonic would do."

Amy just smiled.

"Because that just isn't his style, I'm only guessing, but it might also be because, if he did cheat, it would only show that he's weaker than he really is. To cheat, only means that your unable to win yourself, I think he's to prideful to cheat."

While tails thought this over Amy went back to her seat to watch the screen.

'I hope I'm right about that'

Sonic and Shadow had just gotten over the border of Alaska. They ran over high mountains. Sonic was surprised.

"I heard that Alaska was nothing but a piece of ice, but this is beautiful" he said as they ran through dense woods, next to great clear blue rivers. "Anyway we have thirty minutes to get to that last star post. Race you" he said chuckling at his joke as he sped up.

Shadow just ran faster catching up to Sonic for a second, and then started to pass him. He was tempted to use the new feature of his skates, but somehow couldn't seem to make himself do it. 'I am not so weak as to cheat in a race, I can win.' He thought determinedly. He felt the button for hyper speed click off, as the skates responded to his wavelengths, and immediately felt himself using his own strength. Before it was like he was gliding. On air, but now he could the ground causing friction on his feet. Back at Westopolis tails looked at his watch which was connected to Shadow's skates. He looked in surprised as he saw that Shadow had turned them off. 'So he isn't planning on using the hyper speed.' He thought as he watched the two competitors on the screen. 'But that can't be right. Nobody buy Sonic can go that fast with out some help or maybe Shadow is more like Sonic then we thought.'

They saw the last star posts on the horizon.

'Now its time to see how fast I can go without my skates.' Shadow thought. He willed himself to go faster. 'Just a little faster' he thought.

They had just crossed the star post now was the time for our heroes to give it their all.

They both sped up even fast than ever before. Sonic hadn't expected Shadow to keep up with him. He was already close to his limit, but it seemed as if Shadow was just getting started. They were in Wisconsin already, and were halfway into Michigan only minutes later. All that was in their way was Pennsylvania. They looked at each other to see they were going at the same speed. They speed up. Sonic was getting worried any faster and he would be at his limit. Shadow was completely calm. The only doubt he had was weather or not his mind would be able to handle going any faster. When someone starts to go to fast their heart, lungs, or even their brain could give out from to much pressure. He took a deep breath. He could see the park and the cheering fans at the finish line. He could see all of his friends there too, waiting for them, but the one that stood out most to him was, Amy. His heart nearly skipped a beat before he went into his final stage of speed. It was all in slow motion, he could see a passing butterfly going so slow that he could see every time it moved its wings, and everything was going slow, the colors themselves took a moment to follow every movement. This all happened one second, then he felt it before he saw it as he finally crossed the finish line a yard before Sonic did then he skidded to a halt which took a while from the momentum. He watched with satisfaction as the skid mark he made went at least twenty feet. Then it was as if the whole world broke loose. The crowd cheered a mighty roar, and confetti rained down. And Tails tried to yell over the noise;

"And the winner is, Shadow!"

The moment felt so surreal to Shadow. Rouge glided down stopping in front of him.

"Congrats Shadow, you did it!" She said keeping her composure.

Tails and Blaze were next to come down and congratulate him.

"Good job Shadow!"

"Yeah Shadow good job"

Shadow gave them a small grin fighting to keep him demeanor, then he completely gave up.

"Thanks guys" He said.

"Yeah, yeah, now go up there and get your trophy." Rouge said pointing to where Amy was beaming at him from the stage.

The crowd cheered for him as he went to the stage.

"Congratulations Shadow, I knew you could do it" Amy said giving him a warm hug after handing him his trophy.

"Shadow…' a voice said behind him. It was Sonic only he was grinning as he held out his hand. "Good job buddy"

Shadow obliged as they shook hands, the crowd still cheering and flashing Cameras.

"Hey its almost the new year' Amy said noticing the clock, and the screens went into countdown, as the crowd joined in.

"5…4…3…2…1, Happy New year!"

The next day it was all over the papers. "Shadow the hedgehog crowned 'Fastest Mobian on earth'" It told all about how Shadow had beaten Sonic in a race around the world.

"So, Shadow has finally beaten that blue nuisance, I didn't know he had it in him. But no matter, Even if he has gotten faster, nothing can compare to my new plan, soon the Eggman Empire will be dominant. Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!" said a voice belonging to a fat figure hidden in shadow.


	9. Chapter 9

Changed seasons Chapter 9

Sonic was lying on the roof of his apartment listening to the slight breeze blowing through the city like a flood of air. Even though it February the weather was unusually warm. Warm enough that people were spending time outside. He sat on the roof trying to think through his building nervousness. Today was Valentines Day, and even though he had gotten a gift for Amy, he still couldn't find the nerve to give it to her. "How depressing, Sonic" he though to himself "You've battled Knights, turned into a furry monster, fought evil genies, and saved the world from destruction on every day of the week, and yet, YOU STILL CANT GIVE SOMEONE A STUPID VALENTINES DAY PRESENT!!!!!!" He almost screamed in frustration. He jumped off the roof and broke off into a run, letting the city and its inhabitants to become a blur of color. He was into the country now, and could see a vast plain


	10. Chapter 10

Ever since Valentines Day Amy and Sonic had hung out more and more, much to the distress of a certain black and red hedgehog. He saw them everywhere together whenever Amy didn't have work, even when they were doing stuff as a group. It would always be Tails and Cream, Knuckles and Rouge, and Sonic and Amy and he would be by himself. He would have loved to be with her but the fact that his own job had sent him into an almost permanent nocturnal schedule did not help. He had tried as much as he could to ignore the feelings of jealousy, and denying that he had any emotional feelings to her, but it was very hard to ignore the stabbing feeling in his heart when ever he saw the two of them. It had come to a point when he would just stop seeing his friends altogether, whether he was busy or not, but even then he would always get a full report on the others from Rouge. According to her it was a matter of time before they would officially announce being a couple. As decisive as Rouge was, and as much as she knew he had a soft spot for Amy, she still didn't know exactly how deep his feelings were. This became evident at the fact she always seemed to bring it up during work.

"Good morning Shadow."

Shadow looked at the clock on his desk and was mildly surprised to see she was right; it was so late that it was actually morning.

"Hello Rouge. You seem happy today"

"Well I am a bit excited; Knuckles brought me to a restaurant yesterday, it was so romantic." She sighed in an uncharacteristically dreamy way that reminded him of a younger Amy from six years ago.

"Glad you had fun." He said uncertainly.

"Oh, and guess what, the others and I are going to twinkle park all day tomorrow. Are you coming?"

"No"

"Aw but Shadow, you never come with us! Why not? I'm starting to get the feeling you don't like us anymore." She said giving him one of her biggest and most pitiful pouts.

He mumbled something about "work' and being "busy".

"Come on Shadow, even I can tell that you have absolutely nothing to do. Or should I get Omega up here for a lie detector test?"

He winced at the thought; Omega might be on the side of goodness but he was a living weapon, and his Lie detector test consisted of zapping the person until they told them the truth. He shook his head and let his gaze wander to the window. 'Oh, how would I rather be outside running right now?'

Rouge sensed he wasn't paying her much attention. So she shouted.

"Hey are you listening to me?"

"I can hear you just fine Rouge."

"Then answer my question; why is it you never hang out with us anymore. And don't say it's just me because I'm not the only one who's noticed."

"I highly doubt that."

She looked at him in surprise at the unmistakable tone of sadness that underlined his voice.

"What do you mean? Of course we noticed. You are our friend after all."

"That may be so but I dare say that you all have other things to worry about." 'Like your other more important relationships' he thought bitterly.

"But Shadow it'll be fun. And it's a great opportunity to see our friends."

"That would depend on if you're seeing everyone or being with one person." He mumbled.

"What was that?" She said looking a bit startled. Even thought she had heard what he said, she couldn't understand what he meant by it.

He sighed. If he didn't agree with her and decide to go then she would never leave and he would end up spilling out more than what he had already accidently let slip.

"Never mind Rouge; you win. I shall go with you guys to the amusement park." 'Even thought ill be much less than 'amused' when I leave.'

"You will? Yay, don't worry Shadow, it'll be fun we're meeting at the entrance at 10:00. Try not to be late!"

With that she left the room leaving Shadow to mull things over in his mind.

The next Day he arrived right on time to be greeted by Tails, Cream, Rouge and Knuckles. As they waited for Sonic and Amy he could already see how the day was going to go. Knuckles and Rouge and Cream and Tails were already conversating. He already felt the odd one out and he had only been there for a few minutes. He leaned against the wall surrounding the amusement park, and attempted to mentally put up his defenses. He reminded himself that if things got really bad he could always just leave. And just as he thought that there was a sudden breeze as Sonic and Amy arrived ready for their day of fun. He nodded curtly as Sonic gave him a grin and a wave.

"Hey Shads, long time no see."

He shrugged as his eyes glanced quickly from his rivals face to where his and Amy's hands were connected. His worse fears had been correct; they really were close to the dating faze.

As soon as they in they split into groups just as shadow thought they would, and wasn't surprised in the least when each group seemed more like couples. So now he was alone. 'Just as I predicted' He thought bitterly. He looked around trying to decide what to do first. He mentally picked the tallest roller coaster he could see and was about to go on his way when Amy noticed he was alone. She suddenly felt a flash of guilt and called put to him.

"Hey Shadow, want to come with us?"

He shook his head both as an answer and in surprise at the fact she noticed him.

"Are you sure?"

"Come on Amy, I'm sure he just wants to be alone for now." Sonic said softly so Shadow couldn't hear him.

"Okay, I guess, have fun Shadow."

She tried to say it as cheerfully as she could but she didn't feel very cheerful at the moment; she felt sort of …Guilty. As they walked away she couldn't help but look back at the dark hedgehog who by that time was already heading in the other direction.

Rouge was having the time of her life. There she was standing next to her ruby colored lover getting ready to go on a ride as she shared a particularly funny joke with him. But then her little moment of happiness was diminished as below in the distance she saw a familiar black and red hedgehog sitting alone at a park bench eating some cotton candy with a bored expression. 'He looks so…lonely… is that even possible?'

"Hey bat girl, is something wrong?" Knuckles asked trying to find the direction she was looking at. Luckily the view of Shadow was blocked by a tree so he didn't really see it.

"Its nothing just day dreaming I guess" she replied falsely cheerful. But even as she moved up in the line she thought back on what he had said earlier that morning. 'Was that what he meant?' she thought. But not surprisingly her thoughts were wiped clear off her mind as they boarded the ride holding hands like a young couple.

Shadow was sitting on a bench eating his cotton candy when he first met her.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here?"

He looked up at her and was a bit startled as a sudden image of his long lost friend came in his vision. He blinked and was relived when his vision went back to normal. He nodded and scooted over to make room for her. Now that he saw her up close he realized she didn't look like Maria at all. He glanced at her. She was a blonde cat with blue eyes wearing pink make up and wearing light blue jeans and a pink shirt. Somehow she looked familiar thought; he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"You're Shadow right? Don't we work together?"

That's when it hit him.

"Oh that's right; you work at the front desk." 'No wonder she looked familiar; I see her every day.'

"Yeah that's right, fancy meeting you here."

They talked for a bit but only as much as it was possible with Shadow. Her name was Victoria and she was from the special task force like he was, only she was a part of Team Mystery, another team of special agents who were becoming well known by the rest of the company to be only second best under Team Dark. As he was told she was very surprised that she had found him in a place like this; he was known to be a cold, calculating, and no non-sense type person. He had to smirk at this but countered that she was known for being brutal, temperamental and deceitful. She had to laugh at that.

"I have to be I guess, just like you have to be on your job too."

He smirked and glanced at his watch taking notice that he had been chatting with her for over 15 minutes now. He said his goodbyes and went on his way. 'At least this trip hasn't been a complete waste.' For the rest of the time there wasn't much excitement. The only thing was at almost every ride he went on he would get a deep sense of loneliness as on each ride there was a couple in front of him. Finally it was almost time for the group to meet up so he decided to go on one last ride before leaving; the Farris wheel. He ignored the couples that were on and let his mind wander as he was lifted into the air. It wasn't until he was at the very top when he heard familiar voices from only two seats bellow him. It was Amy and Sonic. 'Just my luck' he thought. He tried to ignore their conversation with gritted teeth, and ignore the pain in his chest that seemed to be eating away at his heart and growing with each word they said to each other. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to concentrate on anything other than them but the more he tried not to, the more it hurt. It hurt. His hand gripped the handle bar and his breath seemed to choke off painfully. Maybe it was because he wasn't use to it, or maybe it was because he had ignored it for so long, but now it all came crashing down on him. And it hurt. It hurt almost as much as it did when…she had died. He clutched his aching chest wanting it to stop as he heard the words that made his heart just stop. "I love you, Sonic" It etched itself in his mind and he focused on those words and the tone of her voice as she had said them. 'She loves him…him…not…not…me…' He was battling the wetness in his eyes determined to cry. 'I will not cry….I will NOT cry…I will NOT let that happen… I promised I would never let myself show weakness…not again.' By the time the ride had ended he had turned his face into the completely emotionless mask he used to wear. He shouldn't have ever let his defenses down. He shouldn't have let her get through them. He shouldn't…he shouldn't have… he shouldn't have ever let himself… fall for her… As the thought came into his head he remembered all those times they had been together… and…all those images of the future he had imagined but immediately hidden from himself back when he had been smart enough to know… when he had known that love does nothing but cause more pain. He had loved her… he had let her in and took down his defenses for her… and just for her. She had become a closer friend than even Rouge or…even…just maybe…Maria. He hadn't realized he was at the entrance until Rouge had called out to him.

"Hi Shadow, ready to go?"

He nodded not saying a word. He didn't trust his voice at the moment. He didn't even trust HIMSELF at that moment. He tried to pull himself together. 'try not to care about it…show that you just don't care…' He told himself this over and over, unaware of the fact that each time he did, his face got more and more emotionless to the point where people doubted he was still living. He told himself to keep it up. 'Just keep it up... don't let them see your pain.' And then the moment came that tested his defenses to the point of almost breaking. Here they were coming. They were holding hands looking as if they were having the best day ever. 'I wonder…can they even tell…can they see behind my mask…I'm not even sure if I can do it correctly anymore... I can't even tell if its there…am I hiding it... or can they see every emotion that I'm trying to hide.'

Finally after what seemed like an hour the new couple had made there way over to tell the rest of their friends the 'glorious news'.

"Hey guys, we have something to tell you" Sonic had said looking at the pink hedgehog beside him.

"Sonic and I have decided to make it official" Amy had said in an excitement that couldn't be hidden, but the same excitement that tore Shadows heart in so many pieces he could only imagine it as a fine powder.

The others had given them congratulations gushing in happiness for their friends. He felt as if he wasn't even there when he himself said "Congratulations I'm sure you two will be happy together." It killed him to say it but he did. And the smile she had given him had all but murdered him inside. Then the next thing he knew he was running at the dizzying pace that only he could get to. And for only the second time in his entire life…as he ran to a place unknown… thinking only 'I …I ...lost her…I LOST her'… the Ultimate Lifeform…cried.


	11. Chapter 11

As Shadow got up and looked at himself in the mirror that morning, he thought for the hundredth time; 'This sucks'. The very day after the 'fiasco' at the park he had decided that he needed some time away from his friends. First he had gone to his job and told them he was taking a vacation, which they eagerly agreed to because of the fact he had never used his vacations for the last 6 years. He had gotten there during the day for the purpose of not running into Rouge, but ironically he did end up running into Victoria. He had said his goodbyes politely saying he would be back soon but for her not to tell anyone he had talked to her about it. After that he had stopped by his old friend's house meaning only to say goodbye. That was his intention anyway; as soon as Omega got a reading on Shadow's emotional state of mind he had forced his old friends to stay longer worried that he would do something rash or stupid. Shadow had tried to refuse but when Omega used the "I'll miss you" card on him he wearily agreed to stay only a little while. During that time Omega had tried to coax him into telling him what was wrong.

"Sensors indicate a distressing amount of emotional angst. What is wrong comrade Shadow?"

Each time though Shadow would wearily tell him it was nothing until about two days of staying with the robot, but even then he never said exactly what was wrong, he more or less gave hints about what he was feeling, but he never said why.

"Omega… do you think you have emotion?"

"…I suppose so…"

"Really, do you know which ones?"

"In battle when we win I feel a sensation a victory, when we lose I feel the sensation of failure. Sometimes I feel anger at the thought of Eggman, but other times I feel almost happy when we're working as a team, and as friends."

Shadow glanced in his direction feeling guilty. He wasn't the only one who was lonely. He had lain back on the metallic bed that Omega had and lowered his eyes ready to go to sleep.

"Omega…thank you…for your friendship…and sorry…for being…a …lousy friend…"

"It is okay Shadow, and you are not a lousy friend"

Shadow had smiled at this but it diminished slowly.

"I promise…ill tell you what's going on…as soon as I… as soon as I am back in control of myself."

The next morning he told Omega goodbye telling him he was going to visit the Ark but for him not to tell Rouge where he was going, which was lucky because Rouge actually showed up to ask the robot where Shadow was.

"Unable to give information"

"What? Come on Omega, we're worried about him."

"Do not worry yourself over Shadow's absence. He is strong and would not want you to be hurt because he wasn't here."

She had given him a sad look, her ears lowered and her lip trembling hoping that the "puppy face" would get him to talk, but Omega was immune to it after seeing her use it before to get Shadow to do her bidding.

"No Rouge"

"Fine..." She had flown off genuinely upset about it. 'Shadow, where are you?'

After Shadow had retrieved an emerald from the GUN commander, who had symphonized with him, being that Maria was his favorite cousin, Shadow had chaos Controlled his way up to the Space colony, to the lonely and silent bowels of space until he deemed himself back in control.

(Two weeks later)

"Guys you won't believe it, but Shadow's back!"

All the others had been at Tails' workshop lounging around until Rouge had come to tell them the good news. Everyone had been worried when the mysterious hedgehog left without a trace. Sonic had even circled the globe in his absence trying to find any trace of him. And now here he was out of the blue.

"Did he tell you where he went?'

"No I asked him but he said he wouldn't tell me in case he runs away again."

"What was he doing when he got back, anything that would hint where he was?"

"No, he wasn't really doing anything suspicious; he was just talking to the girl at the front office when I got there."

"Who was it?"

"Oh, just a co-worker I think her names Victoria. She's in another Special task force like we are, but that's all I know."

At first everyone had been happy when Shadow got back, but now they were become a bit depressed due to the fact he had just stopped talking to them. Whenever he saw one of them he would run in the other direction. Even thought he had to talk to Rouge at work, he would always keep the conversation on business only and would ignore anything she said that didn't have to do with work. Some of the group was beginning to think that Shadow officially wasn't their friend anymore. Almost everyone.

Amy had been walking from work as usual when she saw a familiar black and red hedgehog from behind. She had slowly walked up to him so she wouldn't scare him away.

"Hi Shadow!"

The male hedgehog had turn around quickly in surprise but as soon as he realized who it was he almost made a run for it. He would have anyway if Amy hadn't grabbed his arm keeping him in place.

"S-Shadow, why … why wont you talk to us anymore…did we…did we do something wrong?"

He was startled. The way she said it... She was nearly in tears... He looked away gritting his teeth at the deep sense of guilt. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault that she loved someone else. She didn't deserve to suffer just because she picked someone else as her source of happiness. He mentally beat himself up. He was being a complete jerk to his friends, just because…just because…they had found happiness, and he hadn't. He sighed and looked into her face. He could see the tears in her eyes. The sight tore at him making him wish his was dead for ever hurting her. It was too much. Even though he promised himself not to let anyone else in, and to drop his old friends, this was too much for him to handle. He turned so he wasn't facing her and took a breath.

"I'm…not mad at you guys…you haven't done anything wrong. I'm sorry for hurting you guys. It isn't your fault. I just needed some time away from you guys. I cant tell you what caused all this… not now anyway… maybe some day when this is all behind me I'll be able to but for not I just need to be alone okay? Please, just don't cry. You should be that last person to cry."

He hadn't expected it. And yet she hugged him, sobbing into his chest fur. All the feelings he had tried to ignore were coming back, in a wave of mixed emotions. He hesitantly gave her a one armed hug back, afraid of what would happen if he took it too far. He wasn't going to take advantage of her like this. He did want her, but only if she wanted him back. When her weaving had subsided he realized she had fallen asleep. Shaking his head he picked her up in his arms and ran her home. Somewhere along the way he has decided she was forgiven, if not for how adorable he thought she looked in her sleep, then for the hug he received while he carried her unconscious form home.

If there was one thing Flash couldn't stand it was a rival. If he wasn't the best then he would be angry. If he didn't HAVE the best then he was angry, and when he wasn't performing the best then he was angry. It had been almost ten years since he first joined the business. Even when she was only a cadet she had to be the best, and if someone else was doing better than him then he would get rid of them. For years he had been the best soldier in the company, but all that changed eight years ago when a certain group came about. Team Dark was what they called themselves. Led by the infamous dark hero of their planet Team Dark was the team that everyone with out a doubt would say they are the best. And they were. Their leader was the Ultimate Lifeform. He was smarter than any super computer, stronger than any machine, and of course he had the perfect good looks that people only imagined on gods. He was in all senses perfect. And this made him mad. How could he ever hope to beat perfection? There was no way he could be the best as long as he was around. So even thought he had never met the guy she had always hated him right down to his silly little name; Shadow. That was why he had been so surprised when Victoria reported that she had seen him. He had been sitting on a bench at Twinkle Park all alone eating cotton candy. That was when he got the idea. Ever since she had met the guy she had been obsessed with him. According to her he was perfect. Just as perfect as people said. That was when he brought the idea to his boss. He persuaded him that Shadow would be a threat to their whole operation and that the only way for them to proceed was to remove the hedgehog. Of course the boss had already set his sights on Shadow before this. He knew that if Shadow were to fight him there was a good chance that his plans would fail. That was why he sent Victoria on a mission; find the Ultimate Lifeform's weakness in any way she could. This wouldn't be a problem for her; she was infatuated enough with the guy. And so she agreed to help with this mission. Not that she had any choice. If she had refused she had no doubt that Typhoon would have her head. 'I might as well make the most of it' she thought.

"Good morning Sonikku" Amy said giving her blue lover a gentle hug as they met up in their usual spot by the park. He smiled warmly at her returning the hug and giving her a peck on the forehead.

"Hi Amychan, you seem excited today."

"I am"

He smirked at her and gave a false ignorant face.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Cuz' I get to spend a whole day with you" She said smiling as she gave him a gentle squeeze. She giggled as he nuzzled her affectionately.

"Well then I guess we should get going before you die of suspense." He said picking her up and running off a bit slower than usual so he could hear her if she started talking.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see"

He picked up the pace eager to see the look on her face when they would arrive. He could see their destination already and he tried to hide his nervousness. He had remembered all those times when she was younger when she would beg him to take her to the beach. As much as he hated water, he had decided that her happiness was worth the sacrifice. She had closed her eyes when he had sped up, trying to avoid the uncomfortable sensation of air blowing on her eyes, but now she smelled the smell of seawater. 'The beach' He stopped and genteelly brought her down not letting her go and she slowly opened her eyes to an amazing sight. It wasn't just an ordinary beach; this one was perfect; exactly like she had imagined it all those years ago. She knew he hated water, and yet he had gone out of his way to bring her to a beach that was so completely perfect. She found this fact extremely and ridiculously touching. "Sonikku, it's so beautiful" She said giving him a gentle squeeze.

He blushed lightly and scratched his quills.

"I just found the place, its nothing really."

"It's still very thoughtful of you to bring me here. It's just like I use to imagine."

"Well, it is very pretty I guess, Even if it has water. Um, you're not going to make me swim are you?"

She giggled.

"Maybe…"

"B-but Amychan, its water!"

"Oh relax Sonic; I'm not going to make you swim. Hmm I actually think you didn't tell me it was a beach on purpose, or else I would have brought a bathing suit and you WOULD have had to swim." She said pouting.

He chuckled.

"Do you really think I would do that?"

"I wouldn't put it pass you"

"Aw, I am hurt that you would think that I would do something like that" He pouted making her giggle. She rapped her arms around his neck giving him a small peck on the cheek.

"Sorry, either way, thanks for bringing me here" She nuzzled him lightly. Blushing, his arms snaked around her waist bringing her closer to him.

"But of course Amychan. Anything for you"

She smiled at him and brought herself up closer to his height pecking him on the lips softly, and then she was pulling him by the hand towards the water's edge and sat down beckoning him over. They sat there for hours enjoying each others company, and talking about things of the future like their dreams and ambitions. There had been moments of excitement, like when they spotted a whale that had come up for air, but for the most part they just sat, staring at beauty of the ocean cuddling up like a pair of lovers.


	12. Chapter 12

Changed Seasons 12

Far away from Mobotropolis, deep into the mountains of northern Mercia a shadow cast itself upon a wide window that seemed to pop out of no-where in the side of a cliff. The figure stood there for a moment looking out across the vast landscape of dark dreary mountain plane. The sight would be depressing to anyone else, but to the figure, it was normal to the point he almost was use to the gloomy sight. He had never been normal. He had never liked sunshine, or happiness. What he had liked was suffering. What he had wanted was gloom. But now he wanted something more. Now he wanted complete and total control. And he would do anything to get it, even if that meant destroying everything and everyone that got in his way. In a low menacing voice he promised himself;

"I WILL rule the world!"

The shadow turned from the window and walked to a huge computer screen on the opposite wall. He pressed a red button on the massive keyboard and the image of a yellow rabbit with red spots, red eyeliner and a black and red outfit came onto the screen. Immediately she went to attention saluting him.

"Jenny, contact agents Flash and Caron they have a new assignment."

"Yes sir!"

For a moment the screen went blank and the silhouette smirked evilly. He thought it was about time to get rid of a certain could be threat to his empire.

He clicked another button on his keyboard and several pictures came up. A couple of them were of a certain blue hedgehog's current battles, but a majority of them were of another potential threat; a certain Ultimate Lifeform.

He smirked at the computer screen

"I think its time we've tested this so called 'Ultimate Lifeform'"

"Hey Amy and Sonic" Tails called excitedly from across the room as Sonic and Amy came in. it was a weekly girls night out so they all had decided to meet at Silver and Blaze's house where they guys would be playing video games for most of the night.

Well most of the guys. As what was becoming usual Shadow had decided not to show up, even thought Rouge had used all her reasons for him to go, but he had refused every time. But despite that small detail, life went by as normal.

"Hey Silver pass me a soda!"

Sonic called form him place on the couch eyes glued to the video game he was playing with Knuckles after the girls had left. Silver, not looking up from his chess match with Tails telepathically caused it to float up over Knuckles and drop on Sonics head.

"Hey! What was that for?"

Silver just smirked as Sonic turned his attention back to the game. Just as Tails had one the game the door bell rung and laugh thing as Silver threw the chessboard to the other side of the room, Tails went to answer. He was therefore very surprised to find an orange hedgehog with yellow eyes glaring at him.

"Um, hello?"

"You are not who they call Shadow. If you value your life then you will tell me where he is!"

Immediately something clicked in Tail's head to pretend he didn't know.

"I have no idea what you're talking about; do you mean that super hero on TV? Boy I'd like to meet him one day!"

The orange hedgehog glowered.

"Stop wasting my time! I know you are Miles Prower, side kick of the famed hero Sonic the hedgehog and"

He smirked evilly

"Ally to Shadow the hedgehog the supposed Ultimate life form."

Just as Tails was about to reply he felt someone come up from behind him. He turned his head and felt relived as he saw Sonic ready to confront the guy in front of him.

"So dude, what do you want, pickin' on my little buddy?'

The orange one glared at Sonic and took a fighting stance while Sonic pushed Tails out of harms way. He felt his eyes widen though, as the orange hedgehog's hands glowed with electricity, flashing and jumping wildly in all directions. His yellow eyes look bloodthirsty, almost demonic.

"You WILL tell me where he is. Or else I will DESTROY you!"

With that he took a lunge at Sonic holding his arm out in front of him as to strike at the cobalt hedgehog. Sonic swerved out of the way pulling the orange hedgehog by the back quills and throwing him away from the house. The orange one landed right on the edge of the sidewalk but quickly jumped forward to attack Sonic again. Sonic spin dashed against the walkway hitting the orange hedgehog in the gut. They kicked and punched at each other, landing in the road jumping over cars and trucks that were racing down the street. Sonic ran trying to come up with something. First he would have to get the orange guy away from the citizens.

"Think you could keep up?"

He called arrogantly to his opponent. The orange hedgehog glowered at him and chased him down. Several times Sonic would make a surprise attack at him, going around corners and alleyways pretending to be trying to lose him. Suddenly when they were at the park Sonic skidded to a halt and turned around ready to confront the other hedgehog.

"Your efforts are futile! I will crush you!"

"Ha-ha, I've heard that so many times."

"Maybe so, but you have no idea what your dealing with. I am Flash; the top agent of the Empire. And I am going to take you down!"

Flash then jumped up coming down in a spin dash right at Sonic as Sonic blocked it with his arms. HE felt his feet sliding back as Flash spun faster and faster. With a sudden burst of energy he pushed him back a few feet where Flash landed on his feet lunging at him again. This time they both spin dashed at each other causing dirt and rubble to fly in all directions. They flew at each other in flashes of blue and orange, crashing into everything. Just as Sonic was beginning to get tired Flash had aimed a punch at him but as he was still graze across the chest while he passed. He winced and held the bleeding wound deciding to actually take his opponent seriously. But strangely he felt himself getting more sluggish as the battle went on. Not only that, he was also becoming aware of a sort of burning feeling throughout his body. At first he ignored it, but it was quickly becoming impossible. He winced as a rather unpleasant wave of that burning feeling went through him.

"Finally realized you're in trouble huh? Don't act so surprised; of course I would have some sort of poison on me"

Flash smirked. Sonic felt everything move out of focus and his breathing went shallow and heavy. But just as Flash was about to attack him with a particularly deadly attack, he felt something that could only be compared to getting hit by a car, a bus, a train and a 20 ft brick wall all at the same time. It was an immediate knock out, as he went flying a good 20 feet away.

"Leave Sonic alone you jerk!"

Amy stood there menacingly holding the handle of a massive purple hammer as the head stood on the ground. For a moment Flash regained consciousness and the last thing he saw before going back into a coma were the ice cold green eyes of a very pissed off Amy Rose. Then all he saw was darkness.

Amy had ran to Sonics side trying to make sure he was alright. She, Rouge, Cream, and Blaze had been walking back home a block from the park when they had heard the commotion and she had ran there just in time. She kneeled over Sonic trying to make sure he was still breathing, and as she laid her head on his chest to try and hear his heartbeat, her ears met the soft sound on wings. She looked up at the new comer who looked in a shocked and pondering glance between her and the orange hedgehog. It was a gray bat with both pink and black hair, and pinkish red eyes. Caron the bat.

'This must be that girl the boss told us about.' She thought quietly.

"Who are you and what did you guys want with Sonic!"

The voice Amy had used wasn't her normal voice. It was deep and menacing. It was a voice that made Caron halt for a second, almost wondering if it was really her talking.

Caron scoffed in her direction.

"We wanted nothing to do with your beloved Sonic. All we came here for was information, which he of course refused to give us, and we ended up in a…. confrontation to say the least."

Amy's eyebrow raised questioningly as Caron took a half step forward.

"All that we request is the whereabouts of Shadow the hedgehog. Tell us where he is, and we won't be forced to hurt anyone else"

'Yet' she thought darkly.

Amy shook her head her hair making a blur that stopped a second after her head had.

"Even if I did know where he is, I wouldn't tell you."

"Why do you go on protecting him? Does he really mean that much to you that you're willing to waste your other friends? I wont lie to you kid, if you don't cooperate with us then we WILL be back, and next time we wont be beaten. How would you be able to live with yourself, knowing you could have prevented all of your friend's deaths for the cost of one?"

"So you admit you want to kill him."

Caron realized her mistake but shrugged it off. Why deny it; that was what they were supposed to do anyway.

"Yes, but why should you care, the fact he isn't here now should say something shouldn't it?"

Her comment sent Amy's head reeling. In fact she had wondered about just that. He never was around anymore… When ever she saw him he seemed hesitant to stay. Despite what he had said to her a month ago, she couldn't help but think that maybe… he really DID want nothing to do with her anymore.

That thought made her almost want to cry, even though she believed she was too old for it, and should never cry like she did as a child. She put on a brave face despite her thoughts waging war against her.

"Even if he isn't here… I still wouldn't turn him over. Especially not to the likes of you"

Caron smirked evilly.

"Fine then, you have made your decision; but I promise we'll be back. And next time you won't be so lucky."

With that she started to glow and fade from Amy's vision, the smile on her face menacing, as she disappeared with her comrade.

"What I can't understand is why it spread so quickly."

"It must have been because he was fighting. The poison must have gone into his blood stream and traveled to his brain quickly because of all the movement."

After the fight in the park, they had brought Sonic to the hospital where he was now just starting to wake up from his coma.

Gladly the doctor's decided he would make a full recovery, but for now he needed a lot of bed rest. The poison had damaged most of his body from the inside including blood vessels and tissues. This of course made for a very unhappy Sonic.

"What do you mean I can't go outside? This is an outrage! This is Sparta! This is… unfair!"

"Come on Sonic, it's only for a few weeks, and your free"

Tails tried to assure the hedgehog he would soon be out in no time, but that did not stop him from making a fuss about it. Eventually the doctors decided to leave him alone to get some sleep.

"Come on Amy; please don't let them keep me here!"

Sonic made a pouty face trying to sway her over, but Amy just shook her head and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Don't worry Sonic, the doctors are right; you need your rest or you'll never get better."

"Nya, you can forget your birthday present then" He Mumbled.

Amy Laughed looking back at him before she got out the door returning the favor when he stuck his tongue out at her. She looked around worriedly thought, she really didn't feel comfortable leaving him here alone with the people who hurt him on the loose.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?"

"Nah, you go get some sleep Amy, ill be fine, dead bored, but fine."

"Good night then Sonikku."

She left turning off the lights behind her, and walked home thinking of the words of that bat from earlier. As she let her mind wander she was unaware of a set of red eyes watching her every movement form afar.

As Shadow came out from the cover of the great forest, the bright light of the full moon cascading around his blood soaked form, he felt mesmerized by the sight, almost like if he turned away from it would vanish. Maybe it was because he had been inside of the pitch black darkness of the uninhabited base behind him.

'Newly uninhabited' He thought sadistically as he smirked.

He then sighed tiredly, holding his left forearm with his right hand.

"Those soldiers actually managed to hit me."

He pondered over how it had happened. He had been just about to finish his bloody job when he had felt a sharp throbbing pain in his arm. He had immediately turned to where the source of the blow was, and dropped his former victim to take out his vengeance. GUN would probably be all over him when he got back; after all it had been suppose to be a 'clean' job. But of course GUN always put too many expectations on him. Of course it wouldn't be clean, they were lucky he even did the job completely. He had made sure that ever single last soldier had been destroyed before he left, and that had almost taken an extra hour to make sure there wasn't on hiding under anything or getting passed the gate. He looked at his blood soaked glove and sighed at the fact it probably wouldn't ever get cleaned again. He yawned.

"God, I'm tired."

He turned on his phone to look at the time, not expecting the many, many messages from Rouge. He went through them as he walked. The first few were asking if he was going to meet up with everyone.

'Even thought I had already said No 100 times' He thought bitterly.

He scrolled down and was confused that at the messages had become more serious and panicked…

'What the hell happened when I was away?'

He looked at the clock which said 11:50 and decided that Rouge would still be up for another few hours.

'I might as well figure out what's going on'

He pulled the green chaos emerald from out his quills and muttered 'Chaos Control' as he visualized the street Rouge lived on. When he opened his eyes, he looked around to see he had made it to the empty sidewalk close to her extravagant apartment. He skated down the sidewalk and skidded to halt. He walked up to the door and rang to doorbell, amused that he could hear her jazz music all the way outside. He leaned on the wall next to the door, closing his eyes and crossing his arms waiting for her to answer it already. Finally he heard the key and Rouge poked her head out, pretty pissed at having a visitor that late.

"Okay, what's the big idea?"

"Hello to you too Rouge"

She glanced to her left seeing him standing there looking at her.

"Oh my god Shadow, do you know what time it is."

"Yes, I do but judging by the many text messages I've received, I missed something important."

She looked at him a moment.

"Oh yeah, I had forgotten about it."

"Hmph. Then I take it you just wasted my text on absolutely nothing"

"No, I was trying to tell you that a certain blue hedgehog is at the hospital due to some guy looking for you."

He raised his eyebrow at her accusing tone.

"Well, that sounds interesting… who would be looking for me there?"

"That's what we're trying to find out. Who ever it was according to both Tails and Sonic said that they were looking for you, and threatened them if they wouldn't give them the information."

"Hmph. And because nobody knew where I was, Sonic has ended up in the Hospital..."

"Yeah that's pretty much it."

"Well, it's obvious that this person wasn't looking for fighting lessons. They are either very stupid or very, very brave to even think about challenging me. I shall take care of them personally."

"What! Shadow, you are not going after those guys. Not by yourself."

"I can take care of myself."

"Maybe, but still, you look tired and…"

Her attention had gone right to his blood soaked clothing.

"Shadow, what have you been doing with yourself!"

He turned away from her now realizing he was getting dizzy. Maybe that wound had been more sever than he thought. He unconsciously put his hand to his would again and quickly brought it down, but Rouge had seen the action. She grabbed him by his good arm and commanded him to wash up so she could take care of his wound. He had argued with her until the point when she threatened 'Wash him herself', and he immediately went to take a bath not daring to argue with her anymore.

Rouge had been putting a bandage on his arm when Shadow fell asleep, so she went to bed leaving him there but, ten minutes later. He opened an eye to squint out in case she had stayed down stairs. He silently went to the window, jumping down onto the sidewalk, and skated down the street. He ran up to the Hospital stopping right outside to make sure it was the right one. He waited for the lady behind the desk to move away when he snuck in to see the rooming chart. He glanced every now and then to where she was, back turned to him on the phone. He scanned the chart down until he found the name Sonic the Hedgehog. He snuck back out looking around to make sure no one had noticed him, and ran towards the back looking up at the sides of the building where the outer walls had the numbers of each section of the building. He stopped under the number 7, taking note of the trees that were growing surrounding the entire building. Swiftly and stealthy he climbed up the nearest tree until he got to the 4th floor, and in the window he could see the sleeping form of Sonic. Scaling the branch that protruded out towards the window he reached it, unlocking it from the outside. He could hear Sonic snoring loudly as he swung over the window sill. He rolled his eyes as he went to the bedside trying not to shout.

"Faker….. Hey Faker…. Wake up Dammit!"

Suddenly Sonic shot up looking around wildly until he noticed Shadow standing next to him.

"Oh, hey Shad's, came for a visit huh? I knew you cared"

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"No, and don't even think that I would care about you. What I want to know is who it was that was trying to track me down."

"Business as usual huh, but fine, All he told me was his name was Flash really, said something about defeating the Ultimate Lifeform and stuff like that."

"Well, I don't know any Flash guys… but I think I know who might… are you sure that was it?"

"Yeah, but Shad's, you're not really going to try and fight these guys yourself are you?"

"Hmph, so what if I am."

"Well, do you always have to go by yourself? As strong as you think you are, you could always get hurt. That bandage on your arm proves it."

Sonic pointed to his arm sitting cross legged on his little hospital bed.

"Why should you care? I'm starting to find it wearisome how you guys always act like you care."

"Because, even if you are a complete jerk half of the time, you are our friend. And it's not an act just so you know."

"Hmph"

"Fine then, but you don't always have to act alone Shadow, people caring about you isn't something to be ashamed about."

"Whatever. Anyway I shall take my leave now. If you end up remembering something Ill probably be crashing at Rouge's."

"Ooooh, spending the night at Rouge's huh? Knuckles better watch out."

At that Shadow turned to glare at him from where he was about to exit through the window.

"I did not mean in that sense faker"

"Okay, okay fine, I was just saying you, know, you two did always seem to be together."

"Hmph. Rouge is nothing more that a good friend and that is not going to change."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, now get out of my room will yuh? By time I fall asleep they'll probably be here to give me tests and stuff."

"Hmph. Bye Faker"

"Oh yeah, and before you go, warn us before you go disappearing like that; I know a certain pink hedgehog who really missed yuh."

"Whatever fakers, if you have anything else to say, say it now because I'm leaving. You aren't the only one who's had a bad day."

"Weeeellll, when you put it like that, any chance you could sneak me in some chilidogs? This hospital stuff is nasty."

"Goodbye faker."

"Aww come on!"

Shadow leaped from the window to the branch and grabbing onto both sides of it, slid down to the ground below. As he landed he went into an immediate skate towards Rouge's house.

The next morning when Rouge came down stairs she noticed the sleeping form of Shadow on her couch and smirked as she went to make breakfast.


End file.
